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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8" content="text/html;charset=utf-8;"> <title data-react-helmet="true" name="twitter:title">n | Search Online Etymology Dictionary</title> <meta data-react-helmet="true" http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="theme-color" content="#83001d"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="description" property="og:description" content="The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. 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href="/search?q=n&type=2"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">phrase</div></a><a href="/search?q=n&type=3"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">suffix</div></a><a href="/search?q=n&type=4"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">prefix</div></a><a href="/search?q=n&type=5"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">word root</div></a><div class="underline--2GdPQ"></div></div>1112 entries found.</div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of N" href="/word/N#etymonline_v_2245">N<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>fourteenth letter of the English alphabet; in chemistry, the symbol for <span class="foreign notranslate">nitrogen</span>.</p> <p>In late Middle English writing, <span class="foreign notranslate">a</span> and <span class="foreign notranslate">an</span> commonly were joined to the following noun, if that word began with a vowel, which caused confusion over how such words ought to be divided when written separately. In <a href="/word/nickname" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nickname " class="crossreference notranslate">nickname</a>, <a href="/word/newt" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of newt " class="crossreference notranslate">newt</a>, and British dialectal <span class="foreign notranslate">naunt</span>, the <span class="foreign notranslate">-n-</span> belongs to a preceding indefinite article <strong><span class="foreign notranslate">an</span></strong> or possessive pronoun <strong><span class="foreign notranslate">mine</span></strong>. <span class="foreign notranslate">My naunt</span> for <span class="foreign notranslate">mine aunt</span> is recorded from 13c.-17c., and <span class="foreign notranslate">my nown</span> (for <span class="foreign notranslate">mine own</span>) was frequent 15c.-18c.</p> <p>Other examples of this from Middle English manuscripts include <span class="foreign notranslate">a neilond</span> ("an island," early 13c.), <span class="foreign notranslate">a narawe</span> ("an arrow," c. 1400), <span class="foreign notranslate">a nox</span> ("an ox," c. 1400), <span class="foreign notranslate">a noke</span> ("an oak," early 15c.), <span class="foreign notranslate">a nappyle</span> ("an apple," early 15c.), <span class="foreign notranslate">a negge</span> ("an egg," 15c.), <span class="foreign notranslate">a nynche</span> ("an inch," c. 1400), <span class="foreign notranslate">a nostryche</span> ("an ostrich," c. 1500). <span class="foreign notranslate">None other</span> could be <span class="foreign notranslate">no noder</span> (mid-15c.). In 16c., <span class="foreign notranslate">an idiot</span> sometimes became <span class="foreign notranslate">a nidiot</span> (1530s), which, with still-common casual pronunciation, became <span class="foreign notranslate">nidget</span> (1570s), now, alas, no longer whinnying with us.</p> <p>The process is "of constant recurrence" in the 15c. vocabularies, according to Thomas Wright, their modern editor. One has, among many others, <span class="foreign notranslate">Hoc alphabetum ... a nabse</span>, from misdivision of <span class="foreign notranslate">an ABC</span> (and pronouncing it as a word), and <span class="foreign notranslate">Hic culus ... a ners</span>. Also compare <a href="/word/nonce" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nonce " class="crossreference notranslate">nonce</a>, <a href="/word/pigsney" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of pigsney " class="crossreference notranslate">pigsney</a>. As late as 19c. in provincial English and the U.S., <span class="foreign notranslate">noration</span> (from <span class="foreign notranslate">an oration</span>) was "a speech; a rumor."</p> <p>The process also worked in surnames, from oblique cases of Old English <span class="foreign notranslate">at</span> "by, near," as in <span class="foreign notranslate">Nock</span>/<span class="foreign notranslate">Nokes</span>/<span class="foreign notranslate">Noaks</span> from <span class="foreign notranslate">atten Oke</span> "by the oak;" <span class="foreign notranslate">Nye</span> from <span class="foreign notranslate">atten ye</span> "near the lowland;" and see <a href="/word/Nashville" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of Nashville " class="crossreference notranslate">Nashville</a>.聽(Elision of the vowel of the definite article also took place and was standard in Chancery English of the 15c.: <span class="foreign notranslate">镁archebisshop</span> for "the archbishop," <span class="foreign notranslate">thorient</span> for "the orient.")</p> <p>But it is more common for an English word to lose an <span class="foreign notranslate">-n-</span> to a preceding <span class="foreign notranslate">a</span>: <a href="/word/apron" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of apron " class="crossreference notranslate">apron</a>, <a href="/word/auger" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of auger " class="crossreference notranslate">auger</a>, <a href="/word/adder" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of adder " class="crossreference notranslate">adder</a>, <a href="/word/umpire" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of umpire " class="crossreference notranslate">umpire</a>, <a href="/word/humble%20pie" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of humble pie " class="crossreference notranslate">humble pie</a>, etc. By a related error in Elizabethan English, <span class="foreign notranslate">natomy</span> or <span class="foreign notranslate">atomy</span> was common for <a href="/word/anatomy" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of anatomy " class="crossreference notranslate">anatomy</a>, <span class="foreign notranslate">noyance</span> (<a href="/word/annoyance" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of annoyance " class="crossreference notranslate">annoyance</a>) and <span class="foreign notranslate">noying</span> (adj.) turn up 14c.-17c., and Marlowe (1590) has <span class="foreign notranslate">Natolian</span> for <span class="foreign notranslate">Anatolian</span>.聽Fifteenth-century texts sometimes have <span class="foreign notranslate">umbre</span> for <span class="foreign notranslate">number</span>. The tendency is not limited to English: compare <a href="/word/Luxor" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of Luxor " class="crossreference notranslate">Luxor</a>, <a href="/word/jade#etymonline_v_1636" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of jade " class="crossreference notranslate">jade</a> (n.1), <a href="/word/lute" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of lute " class="crossreference notranslate">lute</a>, <a href="/word/omelet" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of omelet " class="crossreference notranslate">omelet</a>, and Modern Greek <span class="foreign notranslate">mera</span> for <span class="foreign notranslate">h膿mera</span>, the first syllable being confused with the article.</p> <p>The mathematical use of <span class="foreign notranslate">n</span> for "an indefinite number" is attested by 1717 in phrases such as <span class="foreign notranslate">to the nth power</span> (see <a href="/word/nth" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nth " class="crossreference notranslate">nth</a>). In Middle English <span class="foreign notranslate">n</span>. was written in form documents to indicate an unspecified name of a person to be supplied by the speaker or reader.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/N#etymonline_v_2245"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div data-ad-container="true" class="adContainer--6CVz1 vertical" style="margin-top:1em"><span class="adLabel--35hfi">Advertisement</span><div id="div-gpt-ad-pc-sp-infeed-1" style="min-width:728px;min-height:90px"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of Na" href="/word/Na#etymonline_v_54367">Na<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>chemical symbol for sodium, from Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">natrium</span> (see <a href="/word/sodium" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of sodium " class="crossreference notranslate">sodium</a>).</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/Na#etymonline_v_54367"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of *nas-" href="/word/*nas-#etymonline_v_52681">*nas-<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>Proto-Indo-European root meaning "nose."</p> <p>It forms all or part of: <a href="/word/nares" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nares " class="crossreference notranslate">nares</a>; <a href="/word/nark" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nark " class="crossreference notranslate">nark</a>; <a href="/word/nasal" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nasal " class="crossreference notranslate">nasal</a>; <a href="/word/nasopharynx" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nasopharynx " class="crossreference notranslate">nasopharynx</a>; <a href="/word/nasturtium" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nasturtium " class="crossreference notranslate">nasturtium</a>; <a href="/word/ness" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of ness " class="crossreference notranslate">ness</a>; <a href="/word/nose" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nose " class="crossreference notranslate">nose</a>; <a href="/word/nostril" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nostril " class="crossreference notranslate">nostril</a>; <a href="/word/nozzle" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nozzle " class="crossreference notranslate">nozzle</a>; <a href="/word/nuzzle" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nuzzle " class="crossreference notranslate">nuzzle</a>; <a href="/word/pince-nez" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of pince-nez " class="crossreference notranslate">pince-nez</a>.</p> <p>It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit <span class="foreign notranslate">nasa</span>, Old Persian <span class="foreign notranslate">naham</span>, Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">nasus</span>, Old Church Slavonic <span class="foreign notranslate">nasu</span>, Lithuanian <span class="foreign notranslate">nosis</span>, Old English <span class="foreign notranslate">nosu</span>, German <span class="foreign notranslate">Nase</span> "nose."</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/*nas-#etymonline_v_52681"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of NAACP" href="/word/NAACP#etymonline_v_2246">NAACP<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>abbreviation of <span class="foreign notranslate">National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,</span> first attested 1910. The organization was founded Feb. 12, 1909, as National Negro Committee.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/NAACP#etymonline_v_2246"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of Naaman" href="/word/Naaman#etymonline_v_2247">Naaman<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>masc. proper name, biblical name of Aramean general cured of leprosy by Elisha, from Hebrew <span class="foreign notranslate">Na'aman</span>, literally "pleasantness," from stem of <span class="foreign notranslate">na'em</span> "was pleasant or lovely." Compare <a href="/word/Naomi" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of Naomi " class="crossreference notranslate">Naomi</a>.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/Naaman#etymonline_v_2247"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div data-ad-container="true" class="adContainer--6CVz1 vertical" style="margin-top:1em"><span class="adLabel--35hfi">Advertisement</span><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7093273770345366" style="display:block;width:100%" data-ad-slot="5022190299" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of nab" href="/word/nab#etymonline_v_2248">nab<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(v.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>"to catch (someone) by a sudden grasp, seize suddenly," 1680s, probably a variant of dialectal <span class="foreign notranslate">nap</span> "to seize, catch, lay hold of" (1670s, now surviving only in <a href="/word/kidnap" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of kidnap " class="crossreference notranslate">kidnap</a>), which possibly is from Scandinavian (compare Norwegian <span class="foreign notranslate">nappe</span>, Swedish <span class="foreign notranslate">nappa</span> "to catch, snatch;" Danish <span class="foreign notranslate">nappe</span> "to pinch, pull"); reinforced by Middle English <span class="foreign notranslate">napand</span> "grasping, greedy." Related: <span class="foreign notranslate">Nabbed</span>; <span class="foreign notranslate">nabbing</span>. <span class="foreign notranslate">Nabbing-cull</span> was old slang for "constable," and Farmer and Henley ("Slang and Its Analogues") has "TO NAB THE STIFLES = to be hanged."</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/nab#etymonline_v_2248"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of Nabataean" href="/word/Nabataean#etymonline_v_54365">Nabataean<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>also <span class="foreign notranslate">Nabatean</span>, c. 1600, "one of the Arab peoples dwelling in ancient times east and south of Palestine," builders of the rock city of Petra in modern Jordan, from Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">Nabataeus</span>, Greek <span class="foreign notranslate">Nabataios</span>; their name is of unknown origin.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/Nabataean#etymonline_v_54365"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of nabob" href="/word/nabob#etymonline_v_2249">nabob<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>1610s, "deputy governor of an Indian province under the Mogul Empire," Anglo-Indian, from Hindi <span class="foreign notranslate">nabab</span>, from Arabic <span class="foreign notranslate">nuwwab</span>, honorific plural of <span class="foreign notranslate">na'ib</span> "viceroy, deputy," from base <span class="foreign notranslate">n-w-b</span> "to take someone's place." Also used colloquially of Europeans who came home from India having made a fortune there, hence "very rich man" (1764).</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/nabob#etymonline_v_2249"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of nacelle" href="/word/nacelle#etymonline_v_35404">nacelle<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>late 15c., "small boat," from Old French <span class="foreign notranslate">nacele</span> "little boat, bark, skiff" (12c., Modern French <span class="foreign notranslate">nacelle</span>), from Vulgar Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">*naucella</span>, from Late Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">navicella</span> "a little ship," diminutive of Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">navis</span> "ship" (from PIE root <a href="/word/*nau-" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of *nau- " rel="nofollow" class="crossreference notranslate">*nau-</a> "boat"). The original sense was soon obsolete. Modern meaning "gondola of an airship" is from 1901, a borrowing from French; extended to "cockpit of an aircraft" by 1914; later transferred to other similar housings and structures.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/nacelle#etymonline_v_35404"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of nachos" href="/word/nachos#etymonline_v_44906">nachos<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>see <a href="/word/nacho" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of nacho " class="crossreference 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