noun · femininefirst declension
nūgae
nūgae f pl (genitive nūgārum)
Classical[ˈnuː.ɡae̯]Ecclesiastical[ˈnuː.d͡ʒe]
Meaning
- jokes, jests
Nōlī nūgās prōferre!
Do not utter nonsense! - trifles
Corneli, tibi: namque tu solebas / meas esse aliquid putare nugas
To you, Cornelius: since you used to regard my trifles to be somethingc. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 1.3–4 - worthless people
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | — | nūgae |
| genitive | — | nūgārum |
| dative | — | nūgīs |
| accusative | — | nūgās |
| ablative | — | nūgīs |
| vocative | — | nūgae |
nūgae, ārum, f. etym. dub.; old form naugae; cf.: naucum, nux,
I. jokes, jests, idle speeches, trifles, trumpery, nonsense (syn. ineptiae).
I. Lit.:
aufer nugas, away with your jesting, Plaut. Truc. 4, 4, 7: nugas postulare, id. Trin. 2, 4, 40; id. Truc. 2, 1, 20; id. Merc. 2, 4, 1: huncine hominem tantis delectatum esse nugis? Cic. Div. 2, 13, 30. —Hence, nugas agere, to play the fool: nisi argentum dederit, nugas egerit, Plaut. Men. prol. 54; so, maximas nugas agis, id. As. 1, 1, 78; and ellipt. without ago: quo illum sequar? in Persas? nugas, nonsense! id. Pers. 4, 7, 7; id. Most. 5, 1, 38.—Of verses, trifles: nescio quid meditans nugarum, Hor. S. 1, 9, 2; cf. Cat. 1, 4; Mart. 9, 1, 5 (cf. also: versūs et cetera ludicra, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 10).—Of the songs of hired female mourners at a funeral: haec sunt non nugae: non enim mortualia, Plaut. As. 4, 1, 63.—Acc. to Nonius, Plautus called women's finery nugae, Non. 144, 30; v. nugivendus. —II. Transf. (abstr. pro concreto), jesters, jokers, droll fellows:
amicos habet meras nugas, Cic. Att. 6, 3, 5: ego Hephaestum ... Niciam, ego nugas maximas omni meā comitate sum complexus, id. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 2 comites Graeculi, quocumque ibat: tum in comitatu nugarum nihil, id. Mil. 21, 55.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
nūgae arum, f
CNV-, jests, idle speeches, trifles : ista magnas nugas dixerit, T.: tantis delectatus nugis: Nescio quid meditans nugarum, H. — Jesting, jokers, droll fellows : amicos habet meras nugas: in comitatu nugarum.
Origins
Unknown. Perhaps a borrowing from another Italic language, cognate with nux (“nut”) and naucum (“nutshell, trifle”). Compare typologically Russian семе́чки (seméčki), ещё цвето́чки (ješčó cvetóčki).