Meanings
- One of the two major written standards (language variants) of Norwegian.
While 85-90% of Norwegians today use Bokmål as their written standard, Nynorsk is only used by about 10-15% of the population. Fosse’s English translator Damion Searls says many Nynorsk speakers see him “as a kind of national hero” for his championing of the language.
2023 October 5, Philip Oltermann, “Jon Fosse’s Nobel prize announces his overdue arrival on the global stage”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2024Synonyms: New Norwegian, Norwegian Nynorsk
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounOne of the two major written standards (language variants) of Norwegian.
More synonyms by meaning
nounone of two official languages of Norway; based on rural dialects
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*nu
- Proto-Indo-European*néwos
- Proto-Germanic*niwjaz
- Proto-Norseᚾᛁᚹᚨᛉ (niwaʀ)
- Proto-Norse*ᚾᛁᚹᛦ (*niwʀ)
- Old Norse*ᚾᛁᚢᛦ (*niuʀ)
- Old Norsenȳʀ
- Old Norsenýr
- Norwegian Nynorskny
- Norwegian Nynorskny-
- Norwegian Nynorsknorsk
- Norwegian Nynorsknynorsk
- EnglishNynorsk
Borrowed from Norwegian nynorsk (“Modern Norwegian”, literally “New Norwegian”).
More words from Norwegian Nynorsk
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ню́ношк
- ню́ношк (njúnošk)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Catalan nynorsk
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Chinese Mandarin 新挪威語 /新挪威语
- 新挪威語 /新挪威语 (Xīn-Nuówēiyǔ)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Czech nynorsk
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Danish nynorsk
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Dutch Nynorsk, Nieuwnoors
- Nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- Nieuwnoorsone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Finnish uusnorja
- uusnorjaone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
French nynorsk, néo-norvégien
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- néo-norvégienone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
German Nynorsk, Neunorwegisch
- Nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- Neunorwegischone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Icelandic nýnorska
- nýnorskaone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Irish Nua-Ioruais
- Nua-Ioruaisone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Japanese ニーノシュク
- ニーノシュク (Nīnoshuku)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Korean 뉘노르스크
- 뉘노르스크 (Nwinoreuseukeu)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Latvian jaunnorvēģu valoda, jaunnorvēģu
- jaunnorvēģu valodaone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- jaunnorvēģuone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Norwegian Bokmål nynorsk, målet
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- måletone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Polish nynorsk
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Portuguese nynorsk
- nynorskone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Russian ню́норск, ню́ношк
- ню́норск (njúnorsk)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- ню́ношк (njúnošk)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
- новонорве́жский (novonorvéžskij)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Swedish nynorska
- nynorskaone of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Ukrainian нюношк
- нюношк (njunošk)one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages
Cite this entry
Nynorsk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Nynorsk
“Nynorsk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Nynorsk. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Nynorsk,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Nynorsk.
Source: Nynorsk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.