Where does “ney” come from?

Ney comes from Persian نی, derived from Middle Persian KNYA, of uncertain ultimate origin.

ney (English): A type of endblown flute

Definitions

  1. A type of endblown flute

Ancestry of “ney”, step by step

ney traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Persian نی

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Persianنیreed; cane; straw
2Middle Persian𐭫𐭠not; no
3Proto-Iranianná—
4Proto-Indo-Iraniannáno, not
5Proto-Indo-Europeannénot; no

via Portuguese ney

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Portugueseneyney a type of flute
2PortugueseNeymar—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European né →Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian ná →Every word from Proto-Iranian ná →