"N" Word Origins

nitrous

Latin

From Middle French nitreux, tracing to Latin nitrōsus ("full of nitre").

nitty

Origin

From nit + -y. The “foolish, inane” adjective sense is from nit (“fool, nitwit”), possibly under the influence of nutty (“crazy, mad”). The origin of the noun sense (“dope fiend, druggie”) is unknown, but could refer to a person who is under the influence of drugs to the extent that he or she is careless about personal hygiene and unkempt. Compare the verb nit (“to be a nitty”).

nitty-gritty

Origin

Of uncertain origin; said to have been first used by black jazz musicians from the United States, the word is perhaps a reduplication of gritty (“resembling grit”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *greutą (“grit”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-) with alteration of the first syllable. An urban legend links the origin of the word to the debris remaining in the holds of slave ships after the slaves had been disembarked, but there is no evidence for this. The word is not attested early enough to have been associated with slavery.

nitwit

German · 1910

First recorded in the US in the 1910s, likely from German or Yiddish dialect words for "nothing" combined with "wit."

niu

Origin · 1800

A term from the Pai Mārire religious movement in 19th-century New Zealand.

nival

Origin

From Latin nivalis, from nix, nivis (“snow”).

nix

German

From German nix, a colloquial shortening of nichts ("nothing").

Nixon

Origin

From "Nick" plus "-son," an altered form of "Nickson," meaning "son of Nicholas."

nixson

Origin

Rare spelling variant of Nickson, from Nick, diminutive of the given name Nicholas + -son.

nkvd

Origin

Borrowed from Russian НКВД (NKVD), through phonetic spelling of Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних де́л (Naródnyj komissariát vnútrennix dél) and the use of acronym.

nm

English

An initialism, standing in different contexts for "not much", "never mind", nanometre or nautical mile.

No

Old English

From Old English nān ("none, not any"), the same root that gives us "none," reduced over time before consonants.

no bueno

Spanish

From Spanish no bueno, literally 'not good'. The phrase is not idiomatic Spanish in this use; Spanish speakers would normally say no es bueno or no sirve.

no cap

English

From African American Vernacular English, where cap means a lie or an exaggeration and to cap is to lie; no cap is therefore "no lie".

no doubt

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English ne doute, a calque of Old French saunz doute, itself borrowed unadapted into Middle English.

no matter

Origin

Shortened from earlier it makes no matter, it is no matter.

no strings attached

English

From the figurative use of strings for the ties or controls attached to a gift or agreement, as with a puppet's strings.

no worries

English

An Australian English phrase that spread to British and American use in the late twentieth century.

no-frills

English

From frill, a decorative ruffle on cloth, used figuratively from the nineteenth century for an unnecessary ornament or extra.

Noa

Origin

From Polynesian languages, where it forms a pair with "tapu" (the source of the English word "taboo") — noa marking what is free of restriction.

Noah

Hebrew

From the Biblical Hebrew name נֹחַ (Nóakh).

Noam

Hebrew

From Hebrew נועם, meaning "pleasantness."

nob

Origin

Thought to come from an old spelling of "knob" (head), later extended to mean a "big head" or important person — the same idea behind "bigwig."

nobby

Origin

Built from "nob" (a rich or upper-class person) plus the adjective ending "-y."

Nobel

Swedish · 1895

Named after Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite, who endowed the prizes in his 1895 will.

nobility

Latin

From Old French nobilité, from Latin nobilitas, built on "noble" plus "-ity."

noble

Latin

From Old French noble, from Latin nōbilis ("well-known, high-born"), related to nōscere ("to know").

nobleman

Origin

A compound of "noble" and "man."

noblesse

Origin

From Middle English noblesse, from Anglo-Norman noblesse, noblesce et al., Old French noblace, nobleche et al., from noble (“noble”).

nobly

Middle English

From Middle English nobely, formed from "noble" plus the adverb ending "-ly."

nobody

Middle English

From Middle English no body, literally "not any person."

Nobuko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese のぶこ (Nobuko).

Nobunaga

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese のぶなが (Nobunaga).

NOC

English

An initialism whose expansion depends on field: network operations centre, National Olympic Committee, non-official cover, or no objection certificate.

nocebo

Origin

Borrowed from Latin nocēbō (“I will harm”), the first-person singular future active indicative form of noceō (“to harm”), by analogy with placebo. The word was coined by Walter P. Kennedy in an article entitled “The Nocebo Reaction” (1961). (see quotation).

nocent

Origin

From Middle English nocent (“guilty”), from Latin nocens, present participle of nocere (“to harm”). Doublet of nuisant.

nocturnal

Latin

From Latin nocturnus, derived from nox ("night"), the same root behind words like "equinox."

nocuous

Origin

Ultimately from Latin nocuus (“harmful”).

nod

Old English

From Middle English nodden, likely from an unrecorded Old English root meaning "to shake the head," related to old Germanic words for pounding or beating.

Noda

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 野田 (Noda).

noddy

Origin

Noun etymology 1 sense 1 is possibly from nod (“to incline the head up and down; to gradually fall asleep”) + -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns or familiar names); or a shortening of noddypoll, an obsolete alteration of hoddypoll (“fumbling, inept person”). The origin of noun etymology 1 sense 2 is uncertain; it is possibly derived from etymology 1 sense 1. Compare muggins (“fool, idiot; card game based on building in suits or matching exposed cards, the object being to get rid of one’s cards”). The origin of the adjective is uncertain; it is possibly also from nod (verb) + -y (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from noun etymology 1 sense 1.

node

Latin

From Latin nōdus ("knot"), also the source of "knot" and "nodus."

nodule

Origin

Borrowed from Latin nōdulus (“small knot”), from nōdus (“knot”). Doublet of nodulus.

Noel

Latin

From Old French Noel ("Christmas"), ultimately from Latin nātālis diēs ("birth day"), the same root behind "natal" and "Natal."

Noelle

French

From French Noëlle, the feminine form of Noël.

noema

Origin

From Ancient Greek νόημα (nóēma, “concept”, “idea”, “perception”, “thought”).

noesis

Origin

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek νόησις (nóēsis, “concept”, “idea”, “intelligence”, “understanding”), from νοεῖν (noeîn, “to intend”, “to perceive”, “to see”, “to understand”) (from νοῦς (noûs, “mind”, “thought”), from νόος (nóos)) + -σις (-sis), suffix forming nouns of action.

noetic

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek νοητικός (noētikós), ultimately from νοέω (noéō, “I see, understand”).