• innocuous •
Printable Version Pronunciation: in-nah-kyu-wês • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: 1. Harmless, causing no injury; not venomous (snakes). 2. Insipid, inoffensive, all but unnoticeable.
Notes: Today's Good Word is the negative of nocuous, a word losing ground to a distant cousin noxious. It has a standard adverb, innocuously and noun, innocuousness. You may also use the rarer noun, innocuity, if you are a bit daring. The word history should help you remember that this word is a combination of in- "not" + nocuous "harmful", requiring a double N. Don't forget the two Us separated by an O, either.
In Play: Something nocuous might cause physical or mental anguish: "It was an innocuous remark about the hot weather until he thanked her for shading them with her shadow." While innocuous people may be a bit bland, they do tend to be trustworthy, "Duane Pipes is such an innocuous little man, you can trust him with your girlfriend."
Word History: From Latin innocuus "harmless", composed of in- "not" + nocuus "harmful", the adjective from nocere "to harm". The oldest form of this word's root is *nek-/*nok- "death". Derivatives include innocent, nuisance, and nectarine. Innocent comes from the present participle of nocere, negated, innocens, meaning "not causing harm". Nuisance comes from the same participle, polished a bit more by French. The innocent little nectarine took its name from nektar "the drink of the Greek gods", which had, among its best qualities, the capacity to defeat death. (One of Susan Lister's best qualities is her ability to find very Good Words, like today's, so as to impede their death.)
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