nuel

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kneygʷʰ-“to tend; incline; lean toward; bend”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*nīhwulaz“descending; low”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*nébʰelos
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*nibulaz
5. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*nebul
6. Old English · inherited fromnēol
7. Middle English · inherited fromnewel
8. English todaynuel

From Middle English newel, niwel (“right down”, adverb), from Old English nēol, nȳwol, nēowol, neowol, niwol, nihol (“precipitous, headlong, prone, prostrate, obscure, deep down, low, profound, abysmal”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant of nifol (“dark, gloomy, obscure”), from Proto-West Germanic *nebul, from Proto-Germanic *nibulaz, *nebulaz (“mist, fog”), from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰelos, from *nébʰos (“cloud, mist, moisture”); or more likely, from Proto-Germanic *nīhwulaz (“descending; low”), from Proto-Indo-European *kneygʷʰ- (“to tend; incline; lean toward; bend”), from *ken- (“to press; pinch; kink”). If derived from *nibulaz, then cognate with Dutch nevel (“mist, fog, haze”), German Nebel (“fog, mist, haze, nebula”), Icelandic nifl (“fog, darkness”), Icelandic njól (“mist, night, darkness”), Latin nebula (“fog, cloud, vapour”), Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”). If derived from *nīhwulaz, then cognate Old Frisian niwul, Middle Low German nīgel, nugel, nule, nūl (“forwards; forward over”), Middle Dutch niel (“thrown forward on the ground; prostrate”) (Dutch nuul-, vernielen).

Words from the same roots