English
narcissine
Narcissine comes from Ancient Greek ναρκίσσινος ‘made of narcissus, daffodil’, and goes back to νάρκη ‘numbness’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνάρκηnárkē‘numbness’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEνάρκισσοςnárkissos‘narcissus’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEναρκίσσινοςnarkíssinos‘made of narcissus, daffodil’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnarcissinus
- Englishearliest quotation 1911narcissine
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνάρκηnárkē‘numbness’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEνάρκισσοςnárkissos‘narcissus’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEναρκίσσινοςnarkíssinos‘made of narcissus, daffodil’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnarcissinus
- Englishearliest quotation 1911narcissine
Earliest quotation: 1911, Max Beerbohm: “Yet was there nothing Narcissine in her spirit. Her…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)nerk- ‘to loop, wind’
through Ancient Greek νάρκη ‘numbness’
Today it means
adj Narcissistic, loving oneself excessively.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek νάρκη / narcissine