Where does “nunca mais” come from?
nunca mais (Portuguese) comes from Galician nunca, from Old Portuguese nunca, from Latin numquam, from Latin nē, from Latin gēns, from Proto-Italic *gentis, from Proto-Indo-European ǵénh₁tis, from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- — to produce, to beget, to give birth.
nunca mais (Portuguese): never again, nevermore
Ancestry of “nunca mais”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Galician | nunca | never |
| 2 | Old Portuguese | nunca | — |
| 3 | Latin | numquam | never, at no time |
| 4 | Latin | nē | — |
| 5 | Latin | gēns | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *gentis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵénh₁tis | birth, production |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |