Where does “not” come from?

not (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon nōd, from Proto-Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic naudiz — need; trouble, distress; compulsion, force.

Ancestry of “not”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Saxonnōdneed
2Proto-Germanic*naudi—
3Proto-Germanicnaudizneed; trouble, distress; compulsion, force

Words derived from “not”

Every word from Proto-Germanic naudiz →