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

  1. Present; current; Fashionable; popular; up to...

Ancestry of “now”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishnounow
2Old Englishnow, at present, at this time, immediately, very...
3Proto-West Germanic*nūnow
4Proto-Germanicnunow
5Proto-Indo-Europeannow

Words derived from “now

Every word from Proto-Indo-European
now — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer