Etymologically
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enough

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪˈnʌf/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English inoh, later ynough,[2] inherited from Old English ġenōg, also ġenōh,[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *ganōgaz,[4] a compound of the prefix *ga- (Old English ġe-) and a root seen in the Old English verb ġeneah (“it suffices”).[4][3][5] Its cognates are Old Frisian enōch, Old Saxon ginōg, Dutch genoeg, Old High German ginuog (modern German genug), Old Norse gnógr and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐍉𐌷𐍃 (ganōhs).[5][3] Etymonline calls it the most prominent surviving example of the Old English prefix ġe-.[6] The root is Proto-Indo-European *nek- (“to reach, attain”),[6][7] also seen in Latin nancīscī (“to obtain”).[4][8][9] The inflected Old English forms gave enow, which stayed in literary use until the 18th century.[4][8] For the spelling with -gh pronounced /f/ see cough.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sufficient quantity, as much as is needed (Old English, about 888).[10]

Semantic evolution

In Old English ġenōg was already used as an adjective, a noun and an adverb meaning “sufficiently”.[6][10] Old English also used it in understatement, so that have had enough could mean “have had too much”.[6] The weaker adverbial sense “moderately, fairly”, as in good enough, developed in Middle English,[6][9] and the interjection enough!, “that is enough”, dates from about 1600.[6] The colloquial ’nough said, ending a discussion, is recorded from 1839 in American English.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 888 – noun, a sufficient quantity.[10]
  • before 899 – Old English ġenōg, sufficient (Alfred's Boethius).[2]
  • before 1200 – Middle English inoh (Layamon).[2]
  • c. 1303 – ynough (Mannyng).[2]
  • c. 1600 – interjection, “that is enough”.[6]
  • 1839 – ’nough said (American).[6]

Modern meaning

Determiner

  1. As much or as many as needed: enough food for everyone.

Pronoun

  1. A sufficient amount: I've had enough.

Adverb

  1. To the necessary degree; sufficiently: warm enough.
  2. Fairly, tolerably: sang well enough.
  3. Quite, very: glad enough to help.
  4. Used to stress a remark: oddly enough.

Interjection

  1. Used to tell someone to stop: Enough!

Word family

  • sure-enough
  • enow
  • sufficient

Usage notes

As an adverb enough normally follows the word it modifies (good enough); in older and dialect use it could come before (he was enough satisfied).[11]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org