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The corpus record — Latin

nox

nox

night

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 285 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. nox — de Vaan

nox 'night' [f. /] (abLsg. nocte^ gen.pl. noctium) (Naev.+) Derivatives: nox 'by night' (Lex XH+); noctu 'at night' (Naev.+), nociua 'night bird, little owl' (P1.+), noctulnus 'of the little owl' (Pi.), nocturnus 'of the night' (Naev.+); — [de Vaan, s.v. nox, p. 430]

2. nox — Lewis & Short

nox, noctis (collat. form of the

abl. noctu;
I v. in the foll.: nox, adverb. for nocte; v. fin.), f. (once masc. in Cato; v. infra, I.) [Sanscr. nak, naktis, night; Gr. nu/c; Germ. Nacht; Engl. night; from root naç; cf. neco, ne/kus], night.
I Lit.: hinc nox processit stellis ardentibus apta, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 6, 1 (Ann. v. 343 Vahl.): ipsa umbra terrae soli officiens noctem efficit, Cic. N. D. 2, 19, 49: negat ullum esse cibum tam gravem, quin is die et nocte concoquatur, in a day and a night, in twenty-four hours, id. ib. 2, 9, 24 (v. dies, I. B. 2.): quod serenā nocte subito candens et plena luna defecisset, id. Rep. 1, 15, 23: dinumerationibus noctium ac dierum, id. ib. 3, 2, 3: Milo mediā nocte in campum venit, id. Att. 4, 3, 4: omni nocte dieque, Juv. 3, 105: de nocte, by night, Cic. Mur. 33, 69: multā de nocte profectus est, late at night, id. Att. 7, 4, 2; and: vigilare de nocte, id. Mur. 9, 22 (v. de, I. B. 2.): multā nocte veni ad Pompeium, id. Q. Fr. 2, 9, 2: qui ad multam noctem vigilāssem, id. Rep. 6, 10, 10: ad multam noctem pugnatum est, Caes. B. G. 1, 26: sub noctem naves solvit, id. B. C. 1, 28: noctes et dies urgeri, night and day, Cic. de Or. 1, 61, 260; cf.: qui (scrupulus) se dies noctesque stimulat, id. Rosc. Am. 2, 6 et saep. (v. dies, I. B. 2.): concubiā nocte visum esse in somnis ei, etc., id. Div. 1, 27, 57 (v. concubius).—
(b) Abl. noctu: hac noctu filo pendebit Etruria tota, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 1, 4 (Ann. v. 153 Vahl.); so, hac noctu, Plaut. Am. 1, 1. 116: noctu hac, id. Mil. 2, 4, 28: noctu concubiā, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 1, 4 (Ann. v. 169 Vahl.): senatus de noctu convenire, noctu multā domum dimitti, Quadrig. ib.: ergo noctu futura, cum media esse coeperit, auspicium Saturnaliorum erit, Macr. S. 1, 4 fin.—Once masc. (as in cum primo lucu; v. lux): in sereno noctu, Cato, R. R. 156, 3.—
2 In partic., personified: Nox, the goddess of Night, the sister of Erebus, and by him the mother of Æther and Hemera, Cic. N. D. 2, 17, 44; Hyg. Fab. prooem.; Verg. A. 5, 721; Serv. Verg. A. 6, 250; Tib. 2, 1, 87; 3, 4 17; Ov. F. 1, 455; Val. Fl. 3, 211; Stat. Th. 2, 59 et saep.—
B Transf.
1 That which takes place or is done at night, nightdoings, night-work (poet. and in post-class. prose): omnis et insanā semita nocte sonat, nocturnal noise, a revelling by night, Prop. 5, 8, 60; Val. Fl. 2, 219.—Hence, Noctes Atticae, the title of a work of Gellius, which he wrote at Athens by night, Gell. praef.—
2 Sleep, a dream (poet.): pectore noctem Accipit, Verg. A. 4, 530: talia vociferans noctem exturbabat, Stat. Th. 10, 219: abrupere oculi noctem, id. ib. 9, 599; Sil. 3, 216.—
3 In mal. part., Plaut. Trin. 2, 1, 21; id. As. 1, 3, 42; Cic. Att. 1, 16, 5; Hor. Epod. 15, 13; Stat. Th. 1, 69; Just. 12, 3 et saep.; cf.: nox vidua, Cat. 6, 7; Ov. H. 19, 69.—
4 Death (poet.): omnes una manet nox, Hor. C. 1, 28, 15: jam te premet nox fabulaeque Manes, id. ib. 1, 4, 16: in aeternam clauduntur lumina noctem, Verg. A. 10, 746.—
5 Darkness, obscurity, the gloom of tempest: quae lucem eriperet et quasi noctem quandam rebus offunderet, Cic. N. D. 1, 3, 6: carcer infernus et perpetuā nocte oppressa regio, Sen. Ep. 82, 16: taetrā nimborum nocte coörtā, Lucr. 4, 172: imber Noctem hiememque ferens, Verg. A. 3, 194: venturam melius praesagit navita noctem, Prop. 4, 10, 5 (mortem, Müll.).—Hence, poet., of clouds of missiles, Luc. 7, 520; Val. Fl. 7, 598: veteris sub nocte cupressi, the shadow, id. 1, 774.—
6 Blindness: perpetuāque trahens inopem sub nocte senectam Phineus, Ov. M. 7, 2: ego vero non video, nox oboritur, Sen. ap. Quint. 9, 2, 43: vultus perpetuā nocte coöpertus, Ps.-Quint. Decl. 1, 6. —
7 The shades below, the infernal regions: descendere nocti, Sil. 13, 708: noctis arbiter, i. e. Pluto, Claud. Rapt. Pros. 1, 55.—
II Trop.
A Darkness, confusion, gloomy condition: doleo me in hanc rei publicae noctem incidisse, Cic. Brut. 96, 330; cf.: rei publicae offusa sempiterna nox esset, id. Rosc. Am. 32, 91: nox ingens scelerum, Luc. 7, 571.—
B Mental darkness, ignorance (poet.): quantum mortalia pectora caecae Noctis habent, Ov. M. 6, 472.—
2 Obscurity, unintelligibility: mei versus aliquantum noctis habebunt, Ov. Ib. 63.— Hence, adv.: nocte, noctū (cf. diu), and nox, in the night, at night, by night.
(a) Form nocte (rare but class.): luce noctem, nocte lucem exspectatis, Auct. Her. 4, 36, 48: in campum nocte venire, Cic. Att. 4, 3, 4 (shortly after: in Comitium Milo de nocte venit): nec discernatur, interdiu nocte pugnent, Liv. 8, 34 fin.; so id. 21, 32, 10; cf.: nec nocte nec interdiu, id. 1, 47; Juv. 3, 127, 198: velut nocte in ignotis locis errans, Quint. 7 prol. 3.—
(b) Form noctu (so most freq.): ob Romam noctu legiones ducere coepit, Enn. ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 179 Müll. (Ann. v. 295 Vahl.): noctuque et diu, Plaut. Cas. 4, 4, 5; so, noctu diuque, Titin. and Sall. Hist. Fragm. ap. Charis. p. 185 P.; cf.: nec noctu nec diu, Plaut. Fragm. ap. Non. 98, 27: continuum diu noctuque iter properabant, Tac. A. 15, 12 fin.: quā horā, noctu an interdiu, Auct. Her. 2, 4, 7; cf.: nonnumquam interdiu, saepius noctu, Caes. B. G. 1, 8 fin.: noctu ambulabat in publico Themistocles, Cic. Tusc. 4, 19, 44: noctu ad oppidum respicientes, id. Div. 1, 32, 69; id. Fam. 14, 7, 1: noctu Jugurthae milites introducit, Sall. J. 12, 4: noctu profugere, id. ib. 106, 2: dum noctu stertit, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 27: noctu litigare, Juv. 6, 35; 605; 14, 306.—
(g) Form nox (cf. pernox, and the Gr. nukto/s, only ante-class.): SI NOX FVRTVM FACTVM SIT, Fragm. XII. Tab. ap. Macr. S. 1, 4 med.: hinc media remis Palinurum pervenio nox, Lucil. Sat. 3, 22: quin tu hic manes? Arg. Nox si voles manebo, Plaut. As. 3, 3, 7 Ussing (al. mox); cf. id. Trin. 4, 2, 22 Brix, Krit. Anh. and Ritschl, ed. 2: si luci, si nox, si mox, si jam data sit frux, Enn. ap. Prisc. p. 724 P. (Ann. v. 412 Vahl.); cf. Gell. 12, 1.

3. nox — Walde–Hofmann

nox, noctis (alat. Gen. noz aus *noctes [Solmsen Stud. 192], Abl. : nocte, Gen. Pl. noctium, Ernout-Meillet? 682) f. (seit XII tab. und Enn. [noctü seit Liv. Andr.) rom., ebenso noctanter, pernoctó, *noctula, *noctivolus; vgl. nocturnus, -a, -um „nächtlich“ seit XII. tab. [Nocturnus „Gott der Nacht“ seit Plaut, Wissowa ARW. 19, 30f.; noc- * 182 nox. . turnalis seit Sidon., nocturno, -äre Char.; aus nocturnus entl. … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. nox, p. 1087]

In the wild

6 of 4,113 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. nox (scan p. 430; entry #1176).
  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. nox (scan p. 472; entry #7633). Root candidates: *noct-, *nocti-.
  • Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. nox (scan pp. 1087-1090; entry #1859). Root candidates: *vuyo-, *nukh-, *negu-.

Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.