Where does “north” come from?

north (Old French) comes from Old English norþ, from Proto-Germanic nurþrą, from Proto-Germanic nurþraz, from Proto-Indo-European *nér — below the surface, below.

Ancestry of “north”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishnorþnorth
2Proto-Germanicnurþrąnorth, northern; north, northward
3Proto-Germanicnurþraznorth, northern
4Proto-Indo-European*nérbelow the surface, below

Words derived from “north”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European *nér →Every word from Proto-Germanic nurþraz →Every word from Proto-Germanic nurþrą →