Where does “nerd” come from?
nerd (Norwegian Bokmål) comes from English nerd, from English nerts, from English nuts, from English nut, from Middle English nute, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic hnut, from Proto-Germanic hnuts — to arise, begin.
nerd (Norwegian Bokmål): a nerd
Ancestry of “nerd”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | nerd | A person who is intellectual but generally... |
| 2 | English | nerts | Crazy; nuts; Nuts! Expression of dismay |
| 3 | English | nuts | plural of nut; Testicles; An unbeatable hand; the... |
| 4 | English | nut | A hard-shelled seed; A piece of metal, usually... |
| 5 | Middle English | nute | — |
| 6 | Old English | hnutu | nut |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | hnut | nut |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | hnuts | nut |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | knew- | to scrape; scratch; rub; to scratch; scrape; rub |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ken- | to arise, begin |