Where does “nut” come from?

Nut comes from Middle English nute, from Old French note, from Latin nota meaning "mark" or "sign," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European newd- meaning "to notice" or "to know."

nut (English): A hard-shelled seed; A piece of metal, usually...

Definitions

  1. A hard-shelled seed; A piece of metal, usually...

Ancestry of “nut”, step by step

nut traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English nute

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishnute—
2Old Englishhnutunut
3Proto-West Germanichnutnut
4Proto-Germanichnutsnut
5Proto-Indo-Europeanknew-to scrape; scratch; rub; to scratch; scrape; rub
6Proto-Indo-Europeanken-to arise, begin

via Middle English note

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishnotenote; Alternative form of not
2Old Englishnotuuse; enjoyment; profit, advantage, utility
3Proto-Germanicnutōuse, profit, yield
4Proto-Indo-Europeannewd-to seize; grasp; use; to grasp, seize, use; to...

Words derived from “nut”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ken- →