paene

Meaning

1. (not-comparable) almost, nearly
2. (not-comparable) scarcely, hardly, barely (ex: paene incredibilia)

Concepts

almost

nearly

about

practically

close to

intimately

all but

next to

coming on

roughly

some

virtually

well-nigh

not quite

as near as makes no difference

approximately

Synonyms

fere

prope

Translations

casi

quase

presque

vrijwel

fast

quasi

σχεδόν

zo goed als

bijna

nagenoeg

quasi

gairebé

bijkans

beinahe

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈpae̯.nɛ]

Etymology

Possibly from the same root as patior (“to suffer”); this may be Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-(i)- (“to hurt”) (this is supported by Pokorny), but its standard reconstruction as *peh₁-(i)- (or *peh₁y-) creates phonetic problems for the Latin. Neri (2007), following Vine, derives it Proto-Indo-European *p(e)-ai-ni- (“not entirely; from whom has been taken away; who takes away”), from *pe- (“away”) + *h₁ai- (“to take, give”), but this is doubtful since a PIE *h₁ai- sequence is phonologically invalid and the preverb *pe- (“away”) is itself uncertain. So, the etymology is unresolved.
The original meaning was likely “lacking, missing” (> “falling short”), as preserved in the related words paeniteō (“to cause dissatisfaction/regret”) and paenūria (“shortage”).