Etymograph

English

nigh

Nigh comes from Middle English neygh ‘Physically near or adjacent’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- ‘to reach’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂neḱ-‘to reach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwaz‘nigh, near, close’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhw‘near, close’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nāhw‘near, close’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nēah‘close, near’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neygh‘Physically near or adjacent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590nigh

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂neḱ-‘to reach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwaz‘nigh, near, close’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhw‘near, close’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nāhw‘near, close’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nēah‘close, near’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neygh‘Physically near or adjacent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590nigh

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IX: “For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz ‘nigh, near, close’

neighbour, 2 more

through Old English nēah ‘close, near’

next, near, 2 more

Today it means

adj Near, close by.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- / nigh

Shirt and support for this word