Etymology

nonuse

N1O1N1U1S1E1

Today it means: The failure to make use of something. Full definition →

First used 16th c.English use ← Middle English use ← Old French us
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Germanic*ne
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ís?
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
  5. Proto-Germanic*ainaz
  6. Proto-Germanic*nainaz
  7. Proto-West Germanic*nain
  8. Old Englishnān
  9. Middle Englishnon
  10. Old Englishnān
  11. Old Englishnān-
  12. Middle Englishnon-
  13. Englishnon-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*h₃eyt-der.?
  15. Proto-Italic*oitōr
  16. Latinūtor
  17. Latinūsus
  18. Old Frenchus
  19. Middle Englishuse
  20. Englishuse
  21. English todaynonuse

From non- + use.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 16th c. The failure to make use of something.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.