Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 1. ken- 'to pinch, press, etc.'
Semantic Field(s): to Press
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Gaelic: | cnō, cnū | n | nut | CDC |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | hnecca | n.masc | neck | ASD/W7 |
| hnutu | n.fem | nut | W7 | |
| Middle English: | nekke | n | neck | W7 |
| nocke | n | nock | W7 | |
| nok(e) | n | nook | W7 | |
| nowell | n | newel | W7 | |
| nute | n | nut | W7 | |
| nut(t)e, note | n | nut | CDC | |
| English: | neck | n | part of animal connecting head with body | AHD/W7 |
| newel | n | upright post about which circular staircase steps wind | AHD/W7 | |
| nock | n | notch cut in end of bow to hold string | AHD/W7 | |
| noisette | adj | made/flavored with hazelnuts | AHD | |
| noisette | n | small round deboned piece of meat | AHD | |
| nook | n | rectangular corner | AHD/W7 | |
| nougat | n | fruit/nut confection in sugar paste | AHD/W7 | |
| nucellus | n | chief/central part of ovule containing embryo sac | AHD/W7 | |
| nucleus | n | small/bright/dense part of comet head | AHD/W7 | |
| nut | n | hard-shelled dry fruit/seed with separable rind/shell and interior kernel | AHD/W7 | |
| nutcracker | n | tool for cracking nuts | LRC | |
| British English: | knacker | n | one who buys/slaughters useless livestoak for meat/hides | AHD |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | hnecka | n | neck, nape | ASD |
| Middle Dutch: | nocke | n | tip, summit | W7 |
| not | n | nut | CDC | |
| Dutch: | nek | n | neck | TLL |
| noot | n | nut | CDC | |
| Middle Low German: | not(e) | n | nut | CDC |
| Low German: | nut(t), nude | n | nut | CDC |
| Old High German: | hnac(h) | n | nape | ASD/W7 |
| (h)nuz | n | nut | ASD/W7 | |
| German: | Nacken | n | neck, nape | ASD |
| Nuß | n.fem | nut | CDC | |
| Nußknacker | n.masc | nutcracker | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | hnykkja, hnykkjað | vb | to pull violently | LRC |
| Icelandic: | hnakki | n | nape of neck, back of head | ASD |
| hnot | n.fem | nut | ASD/CDC | |
| Danish: | nöd | n | nut | CDC |
| Swedish: | nöt | n | nut | CDC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | nucella | n.fem.dim | small nut | W7 |
| nucleus | n.masc | stone, kernel | W7 | |
| nux, nucis | n.fem | nut | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | nucalis | adj | like a nut | W7 |
| New Latin: | nucellus | n.masc.dim | central part of an ovule containing the embryo sac | W7 |
| nucleus | n.masc | nucleus of a cell | W7 | |
| Middle French: | nouel | n.masc | stone of a fruit | W7 |
| French: | nougat | n.masc | nougat | W7 |
| Old Provençal: | noga | n.fem | nut | W7 |
| nogat | n.masc | nougat | W7 | |
| Provençal: | nougat | n.masc | nougat | W7 |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| dim | = | diminutive |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
