Etymologically
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newt

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈnjuːt/[1]
  • US: /ˈn(j)ut/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English newte, also neute,[2][3][4][5] from a misdivision of “an ewte” as “a newte”: the n of the article an was taken as the first letter of the noun.[5][3][6][7][8][9] ewte, also eute, is a variant of evete,[5][4][3][10][11] inherited from Old English efete (“lizard, newt”), also efeta,[4][8][12][13] which is of unknown origin.[8][14] The older form survives as eft.[14][13][10] The OED treats newt as a variant of eft with metanalysis; for the change of v before a consonant to w and then to the vowel u it compares hawk.[15] Etymonline quotes the OED's remark that the change of v to w is unusual.[2] The OED also notes a puzzling spelling with f, recorded in 1602 and 1631.[15] Other words shaped by such misdivision include nickname, nonce, notch,[10] apron, umpire[5] and adder.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A newt: before 1425, in a vocabulary printed in Wright and Wülcker's collection of Anglo-Saxon and Old English vocabularies.[15] Barnhart also dates newte to before 1425,[5] and Etymonline to the early 15th century.[2] The Promptorium Parvulorum (about 1440) has both forms side by side, nevte or evte, glossed with Latin lacertus.[16][17]

Semantic evolution

In Old English efete glossed Latin lacerta, and it meant a lizard as well as a newt;[12] the Middle English evete likewise named a lizard, a salamander or a newt.[11] The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins explains the word as an example of "wrong division" or metanalysis: the animal was originally an ewt, and speakers attached the n of the article to the noun.[9] The misdivided form became the usual one: the OED says newt is more frequent in literary use and has replaced eft in some dialects,[15] while the Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, calls eft the strictly correct form, though by then only provincial.[2] Johnson (1755) defined newt as "eft; small lizard" and reported Skinner's view that it was contracted from an evet.[18] In Shakespeare's Macbeth (1605) "eye of newt" is one of the ingredients of the witches' brew, now the stock recipe for a spell.[19] In slang newt has been used of a stupid or socially inept person, from 1936 in Australia and later on American campuses.[20]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – Middle English evete, a lizard, glossing Latin lacerta.[11]
  • before 1425 – newte, the newt.[15][5]
  • 1605 – eye of newt, in Shakespeare's Macbeth.[19]
  • 1936 – slang, a stupid or socially inept person.[20]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any of various small, partly aquatic salamanders of the family Salamandridae, with a slender body, a long tail and short legs, especially of the genus Triturus: We found a newt under a log by the pond.[3][21][15][6]
  2. (chiefly British) Any urodele amphibian, including the salamanders.[21]
  3. (slang) A stupid, unsophisticated or socially inept person.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  12. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  13. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  14. ^ a b Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  15. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  17. ^ Mayhew, A. L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  18. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  19. ^ a b Martin, Gary, The Phrase Finder: Meaning and Origin of Phrases, Sayings, Clichés and Quotes, https://www.phrases.org.uk
  20. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  21. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins