adverb
nimis
nimis (not comparable)
Classical[ˈnɪ.mɪs]Ecclesiastical[ˈniː.mis]
№ 841 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparabletoo, too much, excessively
- not comparableexceedingly, beyond measure
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
nĭmis, adv. ni-, ne-, and root ma-, to measure; cf.: metior, mensa, metare, etc.; hence,
I. too much, overmuch, excessively, beyond measure.
I. Lit.:
Chremes nimis graviter cruciat adulescentulum nimisque inhumane, too severely ... too inhumanly, Ter. Heaut. 5, 5, 1: nec nimis valde nec nimis saepe, Cic. Leg. 3, 1, 1: heu nimis longo satiate ludo, Hor. C. 1, 2, 37: nimis castus Bellerophon, id. ib. 3, 7, 14: felix heu nimis, Stat. S. 2, 7, 24: nimis dixi, Plin. Pan. 45.—B. With a preceding negative, not too much, not very much, not altogether, not very:
Philotimi litterae me quidem non nimis, sed eos admodum delectārunt, Cic. Att. 7, 24, 1: ea dicis non nimis deesse nobis, id. de Or. 1, 29, 133: Caecilium non nimis hanc causam severe, non nimis accurate, non nimis diligenter acturum, id. Div. in Caecil. 22, 71: illud non nimis probo, quod scribis, id. Fam. 12, 30, 15: praesidium non nimis firmum, Caes. B. G. 7, 36: haud nimis amplum, Liv. 8, 4. —II. Transf., beyond measure, exceedingly (ante-class.):
nimis velim lapidem, etc., Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 119: nimis id genus ego odi male, id. Rud. 4, 2, 15; id. Am. 1, 1, 63; Ter. Eun. 4, 7, 16.—Also strengthened by quam or tandem, very much, in the highest degree: nimis quam formido, ne, etc., Plaut. Most. 2, 2, 79; id. Truc. 2, 5, 15: nimis tandem contemnor, id. Ps. 4, 1, 11; id. Pers. 2, 1, 2.—Prov.: ne quid nimis, Ter. And. 1, 1, 34.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
nimis adv.
ne+1 MA-, beyond measure, too much, overmuch, excessively, too : Vemens es nimis, T.: nec nimis valde nec nimis saepe: longo satiate ludo, H.: nimis insidiarum: Haec loca lucis habent nimis, O.— Beyond measure, exceedingly, greatly : fundam tibi nunc nimis vellem dari, T.— Prov.: nequid nimis, moderation in all things , T. —With a negative, not much, not very much, not especially, not very : me quidem non nimis, sed eos admodum delectarunt: praesidium non nimis firmum, Cs.: haud nimis amplum, L.
Origins
From ne- + Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (whence metior). Compare immēnsus from these roots.
Descendants
- Old Occitannems
- Old Occitannemés
In English words that came into English from nimis
- nimietynimietās
- nimiousnimius