Where does “№” come from?

№ (Translingual) comes from French numéro, from Italian numero, from Latin numerus, from Proto-Italic nomezos, from Proto-Indo-European némesos.

Ancestry of “№”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchnuméronumber; phone number
2Italiannumeronumber; numeral, figure, digit; sketch; short and...
3Latinnumerusnumber; collection, quantity; rank, position
4Proto-Italicnomezos—
5Proto-Indo-Europeannémesos—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European némesos →Every word from Proto-Italic nomezos →Every word from Latin numerus →