Etymograph

English

north

North comes from Old English norþ, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nér ‘below (the surface)’, probably from the sun being below the earth there, or from the left side when facing east.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nér‘below (the surface)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*nŕ̥t(e)rosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nurþraz‘northern’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nurþrą‘north’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*norþr‘northern’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150norþ
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500north‘north’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1769same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nér‘below (the surface)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*nŕ̥t(e)rosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nurþraz‘northern’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nurþrą‘north’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*norþr‘northern’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150norþ
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500north‘north’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1769same form

Earliest quotation: 1769, Henry Wilson, William Hume: “When at B you had northed 3.71[…]”

The story

The meaning developed either from "region where the sun is below (the earth)" or from "left side of someone who turns to the east when praying".

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *nér

Today it means

noun The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *nér / north

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