Where does “north” come from?

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

Ancestry of “north”, step by step

north traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Proto-Germanic nurþrą

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

via Proto-West Germanic *norþr

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-West Germanic*norþrnorthern, northernly

Words derived from “north”

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