Where does “nou” come from?
nou (Middle English) comes from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic nu, from Proto-Indo-European nū — now.
nou (Middle English): now
Ancestry of “nou”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | nū | now, at present, at this time, immediately, very... |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *nū | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | nu | now |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | nū | now |