Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nought” come from?

Nought comes from Middle English noght, from Old English nāht, a compound of Old English ne and aht (meaning "anything"), ultimately traced to Proto-Germanic ne and Proto-Indo-European ne, both meaning "not."

nought (English): Nothing; something which does not exist; A thing...

Definitions

  1. Nothing; something which does not exist; A thing...

Ancestry of “nought”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishnoughtnothing, none; not; iniquitous, wicked
2Old Englishnōwiht—
3Old Englishnenot; or, and not; "ne... ne..." is used to mean "...
4Old Englisheallescompletely, wholly, entirely; totally,...
5Old English-espossessive marker, indicating that an object...
6Proto-Germanic-as—
7Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
8Proto-Indo-European-ess—
9Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “nought”

  • noughties
  • noughth
  • oughties
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →