NUMEN. The word numen is a neuter form ending in -men and derived from *nuere (found in the composite verbs adnuere, "agree with a nod of the head," and abnuere, "refuse with a nod of the head"). The formation is Latin, even though it is based on an Indo-European root, *neu-, which produced a parallel word of the same meaning in Greek, neuma. Numen is semantically related to nutus ("nod of the head"), as correctly pointed out by Varro: "numen … dictum ab nutu" (De lingua Latina 7.85). It signifies the manifestation, will, or power of a divinity. Because this is its characteristic meaning until the end of the republic (including Cicero), numen never appears unless accompanied by the genitive form of the divinity's name. The most ancient example is in a text of Accius cited by Varro: "Alia hic sanctitudo est aliud nomen et numen Iouis" ("Here, the holiness...