Where does “nowt” come from?
Nowt comes from Old English nyht, from Old Norse naut, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots combining ne (not) with nókʷts (night), originally meaning the negation of daylight.
nowt (English): Naught, nothing; An ox; A herd of cattle
Definitions
- Naught, nothing; An ox; A herd of cattle
Ancestry of “nowt”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | nowte | — |
| 2 | Old Norse | naut | bull |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | nautą | benefit; profit; foredeal; possession; livestock;... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | newd- | to seize; grasp; use; to grasp, seize, use; to... |