Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/276

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nected with Gr. νέρτερος, ‘that which exists below, lower down,’ which would involve the assumption that the word was coined at a period when the Teutons were descending the northern slope of a mountain range. Yet it must also be remembered that Umbr. nertro signifies ‘on the left.’ — To this Norden, m., ‘northern region,’ is allied; from MidHG. (MidG.) norden, OHG. nordan. n.; comp. also Süden.

Norne, f., ModHG. only, naturalised, espec. by Klopstock, from the equiv. OIc. norn (plur. norner), ‘goddess of fate’; the origin of the term is disputed.

Nößel, n., ‘pint’ (nearly), allied to MidHG. nœȥelîn (ö?), n., ‘a small liquid measure,’ dimin. of an obsolete primit. word, the origin of which is obscure.

Not, f., ‘need, compulsion, distress,’ from MidHG. and OHG. nôt, f. (seldom masc.), ‘toil, oppression, danger, struggle, compulsion’; a common Teut. form; comp. Goth. nauþs, f., ‘necessity, compulsion, force,’ OIc. nauðr, f., ‘necessity,’ AS. nŷd, neád, f., E. need, Du. nood, OSax. nôd. The common Teut. stems naudi, nauþi, from pre-Teut. nauti-, have been connected with Pruss. nauti-, ‘distress’; nau- (see genau) is probably the root. —

Notdurft, f., ‘necessaries’ (of life), from MidHG. nôt-durft, f., ‘necessity, need, needs of nature, want of necessaries, livelihood,’ OHG. nôtduruft, f. (OSax. nôdthurft); allied to Goth. naudiþaurfts, adj., ‘necessary.’ —

Noterbe, m., early ModHG., equiv. to ‘necessary, legitimate heir, who may not be passed over.’ —

Notwehr, f., ‘self-defence,’ from MidHG. nôtwęr, f., ‘warding off force.’ —

Notzucht, f., ‘rape,’ formed from MidHG. (Lower Rhen.) nôtzühten, ‘to ravish, violate,’ and also the equiv. MidHG. nôtzogen, lit. ‘to treat in a violent manner,’ even in OHG. nôtzogôn (MidHG. and OHG. nôtnumft, ‘rape’).

Note, f., ‘note, annotation,’ from Lat. nota (Fr. note); in the sense of ‘musical note, melody,’ note appears even in MidHG.

nu, adv., ‘well now, well,’ equiv. to nun.

nüchtern, adj., from the equiv. MidHG. nüchtern, nüchter, OHG. nuohturn, nuohtarnîn, adj., ‘without food or drink, fasting, temperate,’ comp. Du. nuchter, AS. nixtnig. The assumption that the word is based on Lat. nocturnus does not suffice to explain the meaning of nüchtern, since the Lat. term signifies only ‘nocturnal, at

night’; nor is it possible to regard OHG. nuohturn as a genuine Teut. derivative of Aryan nō̆kt, ‘night’ (OIc. nótt), since it must have been equiv. in meaning to Lat. nocturnus. It may more probably be compared with Gr. νηφάλιος, ‘I am sober,’ νηφάλιος, νήπτης, ‘sober, without wine,’ the φ-π of which may represent an old guttural. In spite of this probable connection of the root, the suffix of nüchtern is still obscure,

Nücke, Nucke, f., ‘freak, artfulness,’ ModHG. only, from LG. nücke; comp. Du. nuk, ‘freak.’

Nudel, f., ‘vermicelli, dumpling,’ first occurs in ModHG., whence Fr. nouilles; of obscure origin.

nun, adv., ‘now, at present,’ from MidHG. and OHG. nu (with the variant nû), ‘at the present time, now,’ rarely in MidHG. with the adverbial suffix n (nun, nuon). Further in ModHG. nu (from MidHG. n); corresponding to OSax. nū̆, Du. nu, AS. nū̆, E. now, Goth. nū̆, ‘now.’ A common Teut. temporal adv.; comp. Sans. nu, nû, ‘now,’ nûnam, ‘now,’ Gr. νύ, νῦν, Lat. nunc (with the c of hi-c), OSlov. nyně, ‘now,’ Lith. nu. Comp. neu and noch (1).

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.

Nüster, f., ‘nostril,’ ModHG. only, from LG. nuster, E. nostril, is demonstrably a compound, signifying lit. ‘nose-hole’ (comp. AS. nœs-þŷrel, nos-þyrl), We cannot so positively assume that the G. word is also a compound, for the l of the E. word is wanting. Hence some etymologists regard it as an r- derivative from nos- (a graded form of Nase, comp. earlier ModHG. nuseln, in Logau, ‘to snivel’), with a t inserted, and connect it with Lith. nasraì, ‘mouth, jaw,’ and OSlov. nozdri, ‘nostrils.’ Niesen is not allied; comp. Nase.

Nuß (1.), f., ‘nut,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. nuȥ, f., neither cognate with nor borrowed from Lat. nux (nucem). It is rather a genuine Teut. world, orig. with initial h; comp. OIc. hnot, f., AS. hnutu, f., E. nut, Du. noot (Goth. *hnuts, f., is wanting). The genuine Teut. cognates point to a pre-Teut. knud-, which appears with the same sense in OIr. cnú.

Nuß (2.), f., ‘blow, push,’ ModHG.