Where does “nuance” come from?
Nuance comes from French nuance, derived from the French suffix -ance, which comes from Latin -antia, a suffix forming abstract nouns from verb stems.
nuance (English): A minor distinction; Subtlety or fine detail; To...
Definitions
- A minor distinction; Subtlety or fine detail; To...
Ancestry of “nuance”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | nuancé | past participle of nuancer; nuanced |
| 2 | French | nuer | to match, match up |
| 3 | French | nue | feminine singular of nu; cloud |
| 4 | Middle French | nue | cloud |
| 5 | Old French | nue | cloud |
| 6 | Vulgar Latin | nuba | — |
| 7 | Latin | nūbēs | cloud |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)newdʰ- | to cover |
Words derived from “nuance”