Where does “nôt” come from?
nôt (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon nōd, from Proto-Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic naudiz — need; trouble, distress; compulsion, force.
Ancestry of “nôt”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Saxon | nōd | need |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | *naudi | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | naudiz | need; trouble, distress; compulsion, force |