LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neuter

nefās

nefās n sg (indeclinable, no genitive)
Classical[ˈnɛ.faːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈnɛː.fas]
№ 541 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. indeclinablewrong; (moral) offense; wicked act; misdeed or misdoing
    “‘Extīnxisse nefās tamen et sūmpsisse merentīs / laudābor poenās [...].’” “‘Nevertheless, [for having] slain [such] an offender, and exacted [her] well-deserved punishments, I will be honored….’” (Aeneas in soliloquy speaks two perfect active infinitives – extinxisse and sumpsisse – as he considers whether to kill Helen.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.585–586
  2. indeclinableforbidden deed or act

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quod deī vetant; contrārium fās-reī.
nefās n (indēcl.) — in Mille Verba, Deī et Sacra
scelus contrā deōs
nefās (n indēcl) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 1, 14, 17, 22

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Delictum · Peccatum · Malefactum · Maleficium · Facinus · Flagitium · Scelus · Nefas · Impietas

1. Delictum and peccatum denote the lighter sort of offences; delictum, more the transgression of positive laws, from levity; peccatum (from παχύς), rather of the laws of nature and reason, from indiscretion. 2. A synonyme and as it were a circumlocution of the above words is malefactum; whereas maleficium and facinus involve a direct moral reference; maleficium is any misdeed which, as springing from evil intention, deserves punishment; but facinus, a crime which, in addition to the evil intention, excites astonishment and alarm from the extraordinary degree of daring requisite thereto. 3. There are as many sorts of evil deeds, as there are of duties, against oneself, against others, against the gods; flagitium (from βλαγίς) is an offence against oneself, against one’s own honor, by gluttony, licentiousness, cowardice; in short, by actions which are not the consequence of unbridled strength, but of moral weakness, as evincing ignavia, and incurring shame; whereas scelus (σκληρόν) is an offence against others, against the right of individuals, or the peace of society, by robbery, murder, and particularly by sedition, by the display, in short, of malice; nefas (ἄφατον) is an offence against the gods, or against nature, by blasphemy, sacrilege, murder of kindred, betrayal of one’s country; in short, by the display of impietas, an impious outrage. Tac. G. 12. (ii. 139.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativenefās—
accusativenefās—

nĕ-fas, n.
I. indecl., something contrary to divine law, sinful, unlawful, execrable, abominable, criminal; an impious or wicked deed, a sin, a crime (cf.: scelus, flagitium, peccatum).
I. Lit.: quicquid non licet, nefas putare debemus, Cic. Par. 3, 2. 25; cf.: officia tua mihi nefas est oblivisci, id. Fam. 15, 21, 5: Mercurius, quem Aegyptii nefas habent nominare, id. N. D. 3, 22, 56: nefas est dictu, miseram fuisse talem senectutem, id. Sen. 5, 13: eum, cui nihil umquam nefas fuit, id. Mil. 27, 73: quibus nefas est ... deserere patronos, Caes. B. G. 7, 40: corpora viva nefas Stygiā vectare carinā, Verg. A. 6, 391: fas atque nefas, right and wrong, id. G. 1, 505; Hor. Epod. 5, 87; cf. id. C. 1, 18, 10; Ov. M. 6, 585: per omne fas ac nefas, in every way, Liv. 6, 14, 10: nefas triste piare, Verg. A. 2, 184: illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore versat, Certa mori, id. ib. 4, 563: lex maculosum edomuit nefas, i. e. adultery, Hor. C. 4, 5, 22: in omne nefas se parare, Ov. M. 6, 613: summum crede nefas animam praeferre pudori, Juv. 8, 83: belli, civil war, Luc. 2, 507; cf.: fugiens civile nefas, id. 7, 432: magnum nefas contrahere, Just. 24, 3: facere nefas, Vulg. Deut. 22, 21: operari, ib. Lev. 20, 13.—Poet., of a wicked person, a wretch, monster: exstinxisse nefas tamen ... Laudabor (i. e. Helen, as the destroyer of Troy), Verg. A. 2, 585.—Also inserted as an interjection, O horrid! shocking! dreadful! quātenus, heu nefas! virtutem incolumem odimus, Hor. C. 3, 24, 30; cf.: heu nefas, heu! id. ib. 4, 6, 17: quosne, nefas! omnes infandā in morte reliqui? Verg. A. 10, 673: sequiturque, nefas! Aegyptia conjux, id. ib. 8, 688: Lavinia virgo Visa, nefas! longis comprendere crinibus ignem, O horrible! id. ib. 7, 73.—Esp.: est nefas, it is forbidden, contrary to law, Varr. L. L. 6, 4. —
II. Poet., transf.
A. A horrible or monstrous thing: Eumenides Stygiumque nefas, Luc. 6, 695; 1, 626: infernum, id. 7, 170; Stat. Th. 6, 942.—
B. Impossible: levius fit patientiā Quicquid corrigere est nefas, an impossibility (= ἀθέμιτον, ἀδύνατον), Hor. C. 1, 24, 20.

Origins

From ne (“not”) + fās (“divine law”).

In English words that came into English from nefās

  • nefariousnefārius

Quick answers

What does nefās mean in Latin?
nefās, a noun, means “wrong; (moral) offense; wicked act”.
How do you pronounce nefās?
In classical Latin, [ˈnɛ.faːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈnɛː.fas].