Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈnær.əʊ/, US /ˈner.oʊ/, /ˈnær.oʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English narwe, inherited from Old English nearu (“narrow, constricted, oppressive”),[2][3][4] from Proto-West Germanic *narwu,[2] also the source of Old Saxon naru and Dutch naar “dismal”.[2][5] It is of unknown origin and has no certain cognates outside West Germanic,[2][4] though Barnhart and MWU compare German Narbe “scar” and Old Norse snæri “twisted rope”.[3][6] The verb is partly from Old English nearwian “to confine, become smaller” and partly a new formation from the adjective.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having little width compared with length: about 893 in the OED, and limited in size from about 888.[7]

Semantic evolution

Old English nearu could also mean petty, oppressive and strict.[2] The noun nearu meant “danger, distress” and also “prison”;[2] the noun “a narrow part or place”, as in the Narrows, is from about 1200.[2][3] Mean or parsimonious, now dialectal, and strict or close are from the 13th century.[4] Limited in range or scope is from 1523,[7] and lacking breadth of view, narrow-minded, from the 17th century.[4] The narrow seas, between Britain and the Continent, are from the mid-15th century,[2] and narrow-gauge railways from 1841.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 888 – small, limited.[7]
  • c. 893 – of little width.[7]
  • c. 1200 – the noun, a narrow place.[2]
  • 1523 – limited in scope.[7]
  • 1841 – narrow-gauge.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Small in width compared with length.
  2. Limited in range or extent.
  3. Only just achieved: a narrow escape.
  4. Not willing to accept other ideas or opinions.

Verb

  1. To become or make narrower.
  2. To limit or restrict: narrow the search.

Noun

  1. (narrows) A narrow part of a river or strait.

Word family

  • narrowish
  • narrowly
  • narrowness
  • overnarrow
  • unnarrow
  • narrow-fisted
  • narrowband
  • narrowcast
  • narrow-minded

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 e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press