nunc

See also: Nunc

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin nunc.

Adverb

nunc

1. now

   Synonym: ora

Latin

Etymology

From num +‎ -ce, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), see also English now, Scots noo (“now”), Saterland Frisian nu (“now”), West Frisian no (“now”), Dutch nu, nou (“now”), German nu, nun (“now”), Swedish nu (“now”), Icelandic nú (“now”), Latin num (“even now, whether”), Albanian ni (“now”), Lithuanian nù (“now”), Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “now”), Sanskrit नु (nu, “now”), Greek νυν (nyn, “now”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /nunk/, [nʊŋk]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /nunk/, [nuŋk]

Adverb

nunc (not comparable)

1. right now, at present, at this time, at this very moment

   Synonym: iam

   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations‎^[1]:

     Quam diu quisquam erit qui te defendere audeat, vives, et vives ita ut nunc vivis, multis meis et firmis praesidiis obsessus ne commovere te contra rem publicam possis. Multorum te etiam oculi et aures non sentientem, sicut adhuc fecerunt, speculabuntur atque custodient.

     As long as one person exists who can dare to defend you, yet shall live; but you shall live as you do now, surrounded by my many and trusty guards, so that you shall not be able to stir one finger against the republic: many eyes and ears shall still observe and watch you, as they have hitherto done, though you shall not perceive them.

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.376–378:

     “[...] Nunc augur Apollō,
     nunc Lyciae sortēs, nunc et Iove missus ab ipsō
     interpres dīvum fert horrida iussa per aurās.”

     “[...] Now the augur Apollo, now the Lycian oracles, and now – sent by Jupiter himself! – the divine interpreter brings horrid orders through the air.”
     (Word repetition or anaphora in Dido’s furious denunciation of the ever-changing excuses for Aeneas’s departure. Alternative translations: “First [it was] the augur Apollo, then the Lycian oracles, and now…” or “One moment it was the augur Apollo, the next the Lycian oracles, and now….”)

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 5.93–94:

     ‘hic, ubi nunc Rōma est, orbis caput, arbor et herbae
     et paucae pecudēs et casa rāra fuit.’

     ‘‘Here, where now is Rome – the capital of the world! – there were trees and grass, and a few flocks, and here and there a hut.’’
     (The muse Calliope describes the scene as the early Roman ancestor Evander of Pallantium arrives in Italy.)

   • Ave Maria — Hail Mary

     ...nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.

     ...now, and in the hour of our death.

Usage notes

"Nunc" always means the literal present or "now"; the other use of "now" is usually translated "iam".

Derived terms

• nū̆diū̆s
• nuncine

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative/ relative	indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quīvis, quīlibet	quisque	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs, uterlibet	uterque		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubivīs, ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs, quōlibet		quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāvīs, quālibet	quāque		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs, quamlibet
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus	quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis	quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus	quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

References

• “nunc”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nunc”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nunc in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • our contemporaries; men of our time: homines qui nunc sunt (opp. qui tunc fuerunt)
    
  • the question now is..: nunc id quaeritur, agitur
    
  • the question at issue: res, de qua nunc quaerimus, quaeritur