The story
- Proto-Indo-European*nu
- Proto-Indo-European*néwos
- Proto-Germanic*niwjaz
- Proto-West Germanic*niwi
- Old Englishnīewe
- Old Englishniewnes?
- Middle Englishnewenesse
- English todaynewness
From Middle English newenesse, possibly from Old English nīewnes (“newness, novelty”), equivalent to new + -ness.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.