An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/nur

by Friedrich Kluge

nur, adv., ‘only, simply,’ from MidHG. newœre, OHG. niwâri (OSax. ne wâri); lit. ‘it would not be, if it were not.’ MidHG. and the ModHG. dials. have numerous intermediate forms between n-wœre and ModHG. nur, espec. nœ̂r, neur, niur, nuor. For the negative ne see nicht.