LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adverb

paene

paene (superlative paenissimē)
Classical[ˈpae̯.nɛ]Ecclesiastical[ˈpɛː.ne]
№ 944 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. almost, nearly
  2. scarcely, hardly, barely

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Pæne · Prope · Fere · Ferme

Pæne and prope serve to soften an expression that is much too strong, and as a salvo to an hyperbole; pæne, in opp. to plane, is translated ‘almost;’ prope, ‘nearly;’ whereas fere and ferme serve only as a salvo to the accuracy of an expression, like ‘about.’

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

nimio gaudio paene desipere
to almost lose one's reason from excess of joy.
rerum sub aspectum paene subiectio (De Or. 3. 53. 202)
graphic depiction.

paene (less correctly pēne), adv. etym. dub.,
I. nearly, almost, as I may say (class.): fores paene effregisti, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 2, 4; id. Am. 4, 2, 6; id. Bacch. 4, 9, 26; id. Truc. 2, 6, 37: aliquem paene perdere, Ter. Heaut. 4, 6, 10: paene amicus, Cic. Fam. 1, 4, 1: paene communis, id. ib. 15, 1, 1: Brutum non minus amo, quam tu: paene dixi quam te, id. Att. 5, 20, 6; id. Rosc. Com. 6, 16: non solum in omnibus civitatibus, sed paene etiam in singulis domibus, factiones sunt, Caes. B. G. 6, 10: quam paene furvae regna Proserpinae ... vidimus, Hor. C. 2, 13, 21: paene manu, quod amo, tanta est vicinia, tango: Saepe sed, heu! lacrimas hoc mihi paene movet, Ov. H. 18, 179.—Rarely with subj.: nisi nostri equites acutius vidissent, paene concedente adversario superasset, Cic. Fam. 8, 4, 1: legiones duas paene delessent, ni, etc., Amm. 16, 2, 10.—Paene sometimes follows the word it qualifies: omnibus par paene laus tribuitur, Cic. de Or. 3, 7, 28: totidem paene reperiantur genera, id. ib. 3, 9, 34: cuncta paene, id. ib. 3, 32, 127; 3, 55, 209: divini paene est viri, id. Rep. 1, 29, 45; 2, 20, 35; id. Div. 1, 1, 2; id. Leg. 2, 2, 4: et crescere paene opus, Liv. 31, 1, 5; 3, 53, 7; 9, 7, 1; 4, 27, 11: nudā paene cathedrā, Juv. 1, 65.— Sup.: ita mea consilia perturbat paenissume (penissime), utterly, completely, Plaut. Most. 3, 1, 127: me paenissume perdidit, id. Aul. 3, 4, 7: paenissime os alicui sublinere, id. ib. 4, 6, 2; App. M. 8, p. 203; id. Mag. p. 336, 25; cf. Prisc. p. 608 and 1008 P.

Origins

Possibly from the same root as patior (“to suffer”); this may be Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-(i)- (“to hurt”) (this is supported by Pokorny), but its standard reconstruction as *peh₁-(i)- (or *peh₁y-) creates phonetic problems for the Latin. Neri (2007), following Vine, derives it Proto-Indo-European *p(e)-ai-ni- (“not entirely; from whom has been taken away; who takes away”), from *pe- (“away”) + *h₁ai- (“to take, give”), but this is doubtful since a PIE *h₁ai- sequence is phonologically invalid and the preverb *pe- (“away”) is itself uncertain. So, the etymology is unresolved. The original meaning was likely “lacking, missing” (> “falling short”), as preserved in the related words paeniteō (“to cause dissatisfaction/regret”) and paenūria (“shortage”).

Descendants
  • Romanianpână
  • Englishpene-
  • Aromanianpãnã
  • Aromanianpãn

Quick answers

What does paene mean in Latin?
paene, a adverb, means “almost, nearly; scarcely, hardly, barely”.
How do you pronounce paene?
In classical Latin, [ˈpae̯.nɛ]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈpɛː.ne].