Etymology Explorer › German

Where does “Nordamerika” come from?

Nordamerika (German) comes from German nord, from Middle High German nort, from Old High German nord, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic nurþraz, from Proto-Indo-European *nér.

Ancestry of “Nordamerika”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germannord—
2Middle High Germannort—
3Old High Germannordnorth
4Proto-West Germanic*norþr—
5Proto-Germanicnurþraznorth, northern
6Proto-Indo-European*nér—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *nér →