Gnaeus

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Gnaeus

Latin

Alternative forms

Gneus
Cn. (abbreviation)
Cnaeus, Cneus (archaic/archaizing)

Etymology

Probably the same word as naevus (“birthmark, mole”), as first proposed by Festus and commonly accepted by modern scholars. Chase cites the archaic spelling Gnaivos in support of this explanation.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡnae̯.us/, [ˈŋnäe̯ʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈɲe.us/, [ˈɲɛːus]
Note: the word is scanned with the first heavy syllable in its only two occurrences in verse by Terentianus Maurus. It's unclear whether this was the only pronunciation and what unspelled glide filled the hiatus after the diphthong, but it's etymologically likely that it was /w/ - spelling double VV as single was a common practice.

Proper noun

Gnaeus m (genitive Gnaeī); second declension

A masculine praenomen.

Usage notes

1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, page 616:
The symbol [C] retained its old value [/g/] only when as the initial letter it represented the names Gaius and Gnæus, which, in consequence, are often erroneously written and sounded Caius and Cnæus.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	Gnaeus	Gnaeī
genitive	Gnaeī	Gnaeōrum
dative	Gnaeō	Gnaeīs
accusative	Gnaeum	Gnaeōs
ablative	Gnaeō	Gnaeīs
vocative	Gnaee	Gnaeī

Descendants

→ Etruscan: 𐌂𐌍𐌄𐌅𐌄 (cneve), 𐌂𐌍𐌄𐌉𐌄𐌔 (cneies)^[3]^[4]
Old Church Slavonic: Гнѣи (Gněi)
German: Gnaeus, Gnäus
Ancient Greek: Γναίος (Gnaíos), Γναῖος (Gnaîos), Γνάιος (Gnáios)
Italian: Gneo
Portuguese: Gneu
Russian: Гней (Gnej)

References

^ Sextus Pompeius Festus, epitome by Paulus Diaconus
^ George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897)(p. 153)
^ Jacques Heurgon, Daily Life of the Etruscans (1964)
^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft