nuntius.

Uncertain; competing hypotheses include: * From Proto-Indo-European *newH- (“to cry”), whence Sanskrit नु (nu, “to sound out, praise”), नवते (navate, “to cry”), Old Irish núall (“a loud noise”), Tocharian B nu- (“to roar”). This is tentatively favored by De Vaan. * Contracted from noventius, from an obsolete noveō, from novus, though this is rejected by De Vaan due to the hypothetical proto-form *no(wo)wentio- not making sense morphologically. * From Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to nod”), same source as Latin *nuō, Ancient Greek νεύω (neúō, “to beckon, nod”) and Old Irish noid (“make known”). This derivation may be a relic of an era when laryngeal theory was not as widely accepted and *newH- (“to cry”) was considered the same root as *new- (“to nod”), in which case the *new- derivation should be discarded. * From Etruscan [script needed] (nunth, “to bring”).