"N" Word Origins

normalhood

Origin

From normal + -hood.

normalism

Origin

From normal + -ism.

normality

French

From "normal" plus the suffix "-ity," likely influenced by the French word "normalité."

normally

Origin

From "normal" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

Norman

Old English

From Old English "Normann," ultimately built from the Germanic words for "north" and "man" — describing the Scandinavian settlers who gave Normandy its name.

normie

Origin

A blend of "normal" and the informal suffix "-ie," used originally in online communities to describe people outside their niche culture.

normlessness

Origin

From normless + -ness.

normophile

Origin

From normal + -phile, by surface analysis, normo- + -phile.

Norris

Old French

From Old French norreis, meaning a northerner or migrant from the north.

Norse

Dutch

Partly from Dutch "noordsch" and partly from Danish "norsk," both ultimately related to "north."

norseman

Origin

From Norse + -man. Coined by Scottish novelist, poet and playwright Walter Scott.

north

Old English

From Old English "norþ," ultimately from a very old Indo-European root meaning roughly "below" or "underneath" — probably because early speakers pictured the sun as being "below" when in the northern sky, or because north lay to the left when facing the rising sun to pray.

northbound

Origin

From "north" plus "-bound," meaning "heading toward."

northeast

Old English

From Middle English "northest," from Old English "norþēast" — simply "north" plus "east."

northeastern

Old English

From Old English "norþēasterne," built from "north" and "eastern."

northerly

Origin

From norther + -ly.

northern

Old English

From Old English "norþerne," ultimately built from "north" plus a Germanic ending meaning "of that direction."

northerner

Origin

From Middle English northerner, equivalent to northern + -er.

northland

Origin

From north + land.

Northman

Old English

From Old English "Norþmann," literally "north man" — a doublet of the word "Norman."

northside

Origin

From north + side.

Northumberland

Old English

From Old English "Norþhymbra land," meaning "land of the Northumbrians" — the people living north of the River Humber.

Northumbria

Latin

A Latinized form derived from Old English "Norþanhymbre," meaning "north of the Humber."

northward

Origin

From "north" plus "-ward," a suffix meaning "in the direction of."

northwest

Old English

From Old English "norþwest," combining "north" and "west."

northwestern

Old English

Likely from an unrecorded Old English "*norþwesterne," combining "north" and "western."

northwood

Origin

From north + wood. Doublet of Norwood.

Norton

Old English

From Old English "norþ" (north) plus "tūn" (enclosure or settlement), literally "north town."

Norway

Old English

From Old English Norþweġ, "the north way" — the sea route north along the coast, as opposed to "south way" (Germany) or "east way" (the Baltic lands).

Norwegian

Origin

From Norwegia + -n or Old English Norweġ + -ian.

Norwich

Old English

From Old English norþ ("north") + wīċ ("settlement, dwelling place") — literally "the northern settlement."

Norwood

Old English

From Old English "north" plus "wood," describing a wood or forest situated to the north.

nose

Latin

From Old English nosu, going back to a very old Indo-European root for "nose" or "nostril" shared with Latin nāsus and German Nase.

nosebag

Origin

From nose + bag.

nosebleed

Origin

From nose + bleed.

nosedive

Origin

A compound of nose + dive, first used for an aircraft plunging nose-first toward the ground.

nosegay

Origin

From Late Middle English nōsegai (?), from nōse (“nose”) (from Old English nosu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nas- (“nose”)) + gai (“a bright or gay object; an ornament”) (from Old French gai (“cheerful, gay, happy”)); equivalent to nose + gay.

nosepiece

Origin

From nose + piece.

nosesore

Origin

By analogy with eyesore and earsore.

Nosferatu

Romanian · 1897

Popularized by Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and F. W. Murnau's 1922 silent film Nosferatu; the word is thought to come from an old Romanian term for a vampire or evil spirit.

nosh

Germanic

From Yiddish nashn ("to nibble"), ultimately from a Germanic root meaning to nibble or snack.

nostalgia

Greek · 1688

Coined in 1688 by the Swiss physician Johannes Hofer, combining Greek nostos ("homecoming") and algos ("pain"), originally to describe a medical condition of severe homesickness.

nostophobia

Origin

From Ancient Greek νόστος (nóstos, “a return home”) + -phobia.

Nostradamus

Latin · 1500

The Latinized form of the name of French physician and seer Michel de Nostredame, who lived in the 1500s.

nostril

Old English

From Old English nosþyrel, literally "nose hole" — a fusion of nose and thirl ("hole"), the same thirl found in nostril's old cousin "thrill."

nosy

Origin

From nose + -y, the idea of "poking your nose" into other people's business.

not

Old English

From Middle English not/nat, a shortened form of Old English nāwiht ("nothing"), literally "not anything."

notable

Latin

From Latin notabilis ("worthy of note"), from notō ("to mark, note").