Etymograph

English

nefarious

Nefarious comes from Latin nefārius ‘execrable, abominable’, from nefās ‘something contrary to divine law, an impious…’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *fās.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fāsreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfās‘the dictates of religion, divine law’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnefās‘something contrary to divine law, an impious deed, sin, crime’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnefārius‘execrable, abominable’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1828nefarious

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fāsreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfās‘the dictates of religion, divine law’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnefās‘something contrary to divine law, an impious deed, sin, crime’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnefārius‘execrable, abominable’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1828nefarious

Earliest quotation: 1828, James Fenimore Cooper: “If the vessel be no fair-trading slaver, nor a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak’

phone, professor, focus, fuel, ben, phase, ban, favor, fantasy, famous, photographer, emphasis, fancy, fate, phenomenon, fame, favourite, bee, abandon, profession, fatal, fairy, confess, infant, phantom, symphony, beacon, beck, fabulous, boon, prophetic, epiphany, eff, fab, foyer, banish, fay, bane, buoy, fable, 129 more

Today it means

adj Sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *fās / nefarious

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