January 21, 2009

What does Nefarious mean to you?

I received an email today with this word in it. They used it to explain their intentions. While I know what it means - I decided to look it up just to see what the 'real' definition was vs. the 'amber' definition. These are my favorite I found. ** I bolded the words I liked - while keeping the definition. Just in case you would like to source the information later.
nefarious 
–adjective
extremely wicked or villainous; iniquitous: a nefarious plot.
Origin: 1595–1605; <>-ious, with intervocalic s > r
Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

ne·far·i·ous
adj. Infamous by way of being extremely wicked.
Latin nefārius, from nefās, crime, transgression : ne-, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + fās, divine law; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.
ne·far'i·ous·ly adv., ne·far'i·ous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

nefarious
1604, from L. nefarius "wicked, abominable," from nefas "crime, wrong, impiety," from ne- "not" (see
un-) + fas "right, lawful, divinely spoken," related to fari "to speak" (see fame).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

nefarious
adjective extremely wicked; "nefarious schemes"; "a villainous plot"; "a villainous band of thieves"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Nefarious Ne*fa"ri*ous\, a. [L. nefarius, fr. nefas crime, wrong; ne not + fas divine law; akin to fari to speak. See No, adv., and Fate.] Wicked in the extreme; abominable; iniquitous; atrociously villainous; execrable; detestably vile.
Syn: Iniquitous; detestable; horrible; heinious; atrocious; infamous; impious. See
Iniquitous. -- Ne*fa"ri*ous*ly, adv. -- Ne*fa"ri*ous*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

**I find it interesting that this person thinks that their plan is wicked to the extreme. It makes me smile just a little bit. Too bad I had a pretty nefarious scheme as well.

No comments: