Etymology Explorer › Maori

Where does “Nōwei” come from?

Nōwei (Maori) comes from English Norway, from Middle English Norwey, from Old English Norþweg, from Old Norse Norvegr, from Old Norse Norðvegr, from Old Norse norðr, from Proto-Germanic nurþrą, from Proto-Germanic nurþraz.

Ancestry of “Nōwei”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishNorwayShort for Norway rat
2Middle EnglishNorwey—
3Old EnglishNorþweg—
4Old NorseNorvegrnorth way
5Old NorseNorðvegr—
6Old Norsenorðrnorth; north, northward
7Proto-Germanicnurþrąnorth, northern; north, northward
8Proto-Germanicnurþraznorth, northern
9Proto-Indo-European*nér—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *nér →