Where does “now” come from?
Now comes from Old English nū, from Proto-Indo-European nū, a particle indicating the present moment or immediate time.
now (English): Present; current; Fashionable; popular; up to...
Definitions
- Present; current; Fashionable; popular; up to...
Ancestry of “now”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | nou | now |
| 2 | Old English | nū | now, at present, at this time, immediately, very... |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *nū | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | nu | now |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | nū | now |