Where does “nobody” come from?
Nobody derives from English no and body, with no tracing through English No. and Latin numero to Proto-Indo-European bʰewdʰ-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne meaning not.
nobody (English): Not any person; the logical negation of somebody;...
Definitions
- Not any person; the logical negation of somebody;...
Ancestry of “nobody”, step by step
nobody traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English no
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | no | Not any; Hardly any; Not any possibility or... |
| 2 | Middle English | noo | — |
| 3 | Middle English | none | Alternative form of nonne; Alternative form of... |
| 4 | Old English | nōn | noon; the ninth hour; the ninth hour |
| 5 | Latin | nōna | nones canonical hour |
| 6 | Latin | nōnus | ninth |
| 7 | Latin | novenos | accusative masculine plural of novēnus |
| 8 | Latin | novem | nine; 9; first-person singular present active... |
| 9 | Latin | novo | I make new, renew, refresh; I alter, change;... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | nowāō | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | néweh₂ti | to renew |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | néwos | new |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | new- | new; to nod, assent to |