Etymology

ne

N1E1

Today it means: Not. Full definition →

First used 19th c.Middle English ne ← Old English ne ← Proto-West Germanic *ne
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ne · adverb, conjunction1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*né
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ne
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*ne
  4. Old English · inherited fromne
  5. Middle English · inherited fromne
  6. English todayne

From Middle English ne, from Old English ne, from Proto-West Germanic *ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né. Cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni), Latin nē, Sanskrit न (na), Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian and Russian не (ne), Lithuanian ne, Irish ní.

ne · adverb2

  1. Māori · derived fromnē
  2. English todayne

From Māori nē.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishne all →

-na

Old Englishne all →

nanee

Proto-Indo-European*né all →

deny

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. "Isn't that so?" (used in representations of Maori English).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.