adverb
nec1
nec (not comparable)
Classical[ˈnɛk]Ecclesiastical[ˈnɛk]
№ 19 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparablenor
Nūllus adhūc mundō praebēbat lūmina Tītān, nec nova crēscendō reparābat cornua Phoebē, nec circumfūsō pendēbat in āere tellūs ponderibus lībrāta suīs, nec bracchia longō margine terrārum porrēxerat Amphītrītē; […]
No Titan [Sun] as yet provided light to the world, nor did Phoebe [the Moon] repair new horns in waxing, nor did the Earth hang in the surrounding air, balanced by its own weights, nor had Amphitrite [the sea] stretched her arms down the far borders of the lands; […]8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses 1.10–14 - not comparableand not, not
- not comparableneither
- not comparablenot even
nĕc,
I. conj., v. neque.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
nec or neque (in nec the negation is more prominent, in neque the connective), adv. and conj.
1 ne+que.
I. I. Without a correl. particle, and not, also not, nor : quia non viderunt, nec sciunt: delubra esse in urbibus censeo, nec sequor magos, etc.—Negativing a single word: illa se negat, Neque eum aequom ait facere, T.: Et vidi et perii, nec notis ignibus arsi, O.: nec dubie ludibrio esse miserias suas, L.: nec idcirco minus: neque eo minus, L.: neque eo secius, N.—With adversative particles, nor yet, nor however, and yet not, but yet not : castra propere movit . . . Neque tamen Antonius procul aberat, S.: nec despero tamen: neque vero multum interest.—With enim, for . . . not, and in fact . . . not, and yet . . . not : neque enim erat cuiquam dubium: nec enim' licebat: Dixerat haec Tellus, neque enim tolerare potuit, etc., O.—With non (sometimes written necnon), introducing an emphatic affirmation, and assuredly, and certainly, and besides, and indeed : neque haec tu non intellegis: Tunc mihi praecipue, nec non tamen ante, placebas, O.: neque non me tamen mordet aliquid.—Poet., as a mere connective, also, besides, as well, too : Nec non et gemini custodes Praecedunt, V.—With dum (sometimes written necdum), and not yet, nor yet : si scis, neque dum Romā es profectus, scribas, etc.: necdum tamen ego Quintum conveneram.— Introducing a negative clause of purpose, result, or command, and . . . not : recordare enim . . . nec hoc pertimueris: profanum esto, neque scelus esto, L.: Transque caput iace, nec respexeris, V.: (diem) lucro Appone, nec dulcīs amores Sperne, H.: date munera templis, Nec timidā gaudete fide, O.: Nec tu mensarum morsūs horresce, V.: nec tempora perde precando, O.: nunc ut ea praetermittam, neque eos appellem, etc.: ut secundae classis vocarentur, nec umquam descenderent, L.: orare coepit, ne enuntiaret nec se proderet, N.: conspirasse, ne manūs ad os cibum ferrent, nec os acciperet datum, L.—Praegn., and not even, not even, and . . . too : cum praesertim nec nos temperemus imperiis, L.: ne quid praeter sonum linguae, nec eum incorruptum, retinerent, L.: equi non velocitate conspicui; sed nec docentur, etc., T.—Without connective force, not : magistratus nec oboedientem civem coërceto: alter, qui nec procul aberat, L.—
II. II. With a correlative particle.—With neque or nec, neither . . . nor : nam certe neque tum peccavi, cum . . . neque cum, etc.: mors nec ad vivos pertineat nec ad mortuos: haec si neque ego neque tu fecimus, T.: Sed nec Brutus erit, Bruti nec avunculus usquam, Iu.: nemo umquam neque poëta neque orator fuit, qui, etc.—Followed by et or -que in an affirmative clause, on the one hand not . . . and on the other hand; not only not . . . but also : id neque amoris mediocris et ingeni summi iudico: ut neque vestitūs praeter pellīs haberent quicquam, et lavarentur in fluminibus, Cs.: ut neque bonus quisquam intereat, paucorumque poenā vos salvi esse possitis.—Preceded by et in an affirmative clause, on the one hand . . . on the other not, not only . . . but also not : ego vero et exspectabo ea quae polliceris neque exigam nisi tuo commodo: patebat via et certa neque longa.
Origins
Apocopated form of neque.