Etymology — The origins of English words

From night + spot.

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

From Latin ōvum (“egg”) + -oid (“resembling”).

Borrowed from Hokkien 黃／黄 (Ûiⁿ).

Borrowed from Swedish orientering, from orientera (“orient, orientate”) + -ing.

From non- + foreigner.

From on- + rushing.

From niggle + -y.

Attested from the 19th century. Compare gadzooks from God’s hooks, ods bodikin from God’s bodkins, both allusions to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Uncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.

From non- + repeating.

From non- + angelic.

From Latin omniformis, from omnis (“all”) + forma (“form”). Compare French omniforme.

From Latin nōnāgēnārius (“containing ninety”) + -an (suffix forming adjectives and representative nouns), either directly or via French nonagénaire, from nōnāgēnī (“ninety each”) + -ārius (“-ary”), from nōnāginta (“nine tens, ninety”).

From outer + change by analogy with interchange.

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

From Middle English newel, niwel (“right down”, adverb), from Old English nēol, nȳwol, nēowol, neowol, niwol, nihol (“precipitous, headlong, prone, prostrate, obscure, deep down, low, profound, abysmal”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant of nifol (“dark, gloomy, obscure”), from Proto-West Germanic *nebul, from Proto-Germanic *nibulaz, *nebulaz (“mist, fog”), from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰelos, from *nébʰos (“cloud, mist, moisture”); or more likely, from Proto-Germanic *nīhwulaz (“descending; low”), from Proto-Indo-European *kneygʷʰ- (“to tend; incline; lean toward; bend”), from *ken- (“to press; pinch; kink”). If derived from *nibulaz, then cognate with Dutch nevel (“mist, fog, haze”), German Nebel (“fog, mist, haze, nebula”), Icelandic nifl (“fog, darkness”), Icelandic njól (“mist, night, darkness”), Latin nebula (“fog, cloud, vapour”), Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”). If derived from *nīhwulaz, then cognate Old Frisian niwul, Middle Low German nīgel, nugel, nule, nūl (“forwards; forward over”), Middle Dutch niel (“thrown forward on the ground; prostrate”) (Dutch nuul-, vernielen).

From Latin octavo. Doublet of octave, oitava, and ochava.

From non- + possession.

From Middle English obstinance, obstinaunce, from Medieval Latin obstināntia, equivalent to obstinant + -ance.

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

From Nippon + -ic.

From non- + alignment.

From Middle English oportunely, equivalent to opportune + -ly.