English
nervous
Nervous comes from Middle English nervous, from Latin nervōsus ‘sinewy’, from nervus ‘sinew, nerve’, ultimately from PIE *snéh₁wr̥ ‘sinew’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*snéh₁wr̥‘sinew, tendon’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnervus‘nerve; sinew’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnervōsus‘sinewy; vigorous’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nervous‘composed of nerves’
- Englishearliest quotation 1663same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*snéh₁wr̥‘sinew, tendon’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnervus‘nerve; sinew’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnervōsus‘sinewy; vigorous’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nervous‘composed of nerves’
- Englishearliest quotation 1663same form
Earliest quotation: 1663, Edward Waterhous, Fortescutus Illustratus […]: “Fortescutus illustratus, or a commentary on that nervous treatise…”
Formed from nerve + -ous
Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- ‘to spin (thread), to sew’
…
Proto-Italic *(s)nēuros
Old Latin *neuros
Medieval Latin nervus
Middle English nerve ‘a nerve’
English nerve
The story
From Middle English nervous (‘composed of or incorporating nerves’), from Latin nervōsus (‘nervous; sinewy; energetic, vigorous’), from nervus (‘nerve; muscle; sinew, tendon; (figuratively) energy, power; nerve; force, strength, vigour’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (‘sinew, tendon’)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is analysable as nerve + -ous.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- ‘to twist threads, spin, weave’
needle, neuron, nous, adder, nematode, nematic, 8 more
through Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ ‘sinew, tendon’
through Latin nervus ‘nerve’
Today it means
adj Full of sinews.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ / nervous