Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “North” come from?

North (English) comes from French Nord, from Middle French nord, from Old French nort, from Old English norþ, from Proto-Germanic nurþrą, from Proto-Germanic nurþraz, from Proto-Indo-European *nér.

Ancestry of “North”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchNord—
2Middle Frenchnord—
3Old Frenchnortnorth
4Old Englishnorþnorth
5Proto-Germanicnurþrąnorth, northern; north, northward
6Proto-Germanicnurþraznorth, northern
7Proto-Indo-European*nér—

Words derived from “North”

  • not
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *nér →