Etymology

nil per os

Today it means: Nothing by mouth: nothing may be eaten or drunk. Full definition →

Latin nīl
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromnīl“nothing”
  2. English todaynil per os

From Latin nīl (“nothing”) + per (“by means of”) + ōs (“mouth”), literally “nothing by mouth”.

Words from the same roots

Latinnīl all →

nilnil-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.