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Etymology and origin of the English word nod

English has a verb nod, of uncertain origin, with the noun formed from it, and a dialect noun nod, the nape of the neck, which is probably a shortening of noddle.[1][2]

Pronunciation

nod1 move the head

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1390, G. Chaucer, Manciple's Tale
Inherited from
Middle English nodden

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nodden, of uncertain origin.[1][4][5][6][7] It is not found in Old English, and Etymonline thinks it probably existed there unrecorded;[4][8][9] the OED, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English compare Middle High German notten (“to move to and fro, shake”) and suggest a Low German origin.[1][10][11] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Old High German hnotōn (“to shake”) and Old Norse hnjóða (“to strike, rivet”),[12][2][8] from a Germanic verb Proto-Germanic *hnudōną,[12] and Barnhart refers them to Proto-Indo-European *kneudʰ-.[12] Etymonline thinks the word apparently unrelated to Latin nuō (“to nod”),[4] which Partridge took to be akin, with Ancient Greek νεύω (neúō, “to nod”).[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bow the head quickly, in greeting, agreement or command: about 1390, in Chaucer's Manciple's Tale,[1][12] in Barnhart's reading of the head drooping in drunkenness or sleepiness.[14][12]

Semantic evolution

Nodding as a sign of greeting or assent, and nodding from drowsiness, were both present early: the involuntary nod of a sleepy person is recorded from about 1425.[1] Weekley compares the link between nodding and dozing in French niquer (“to nod”) and German nicken.[9] The noun, a nod of the head, dates from 1541.[1][2] From 1567 it also meant a command given by a nod and so absolute power, as in Prior's line "nations obey my word, and wait my nod", which Johnson quoted.[1][15] The figurative sense "to make a slip through inattention" (1677) echoes Horace's remark that even good Homer sometimes nods, Latin dormitat Homerus.[1][4][9] The pun the land of Nod, sleep, after the biblical land east of Eden, is recorded from 1738 in Swift;[1][9] Etymonline dates it to 1731.[4] Of plants, nod means to bend and sway from 1578.[1] The phrase a nod and a wink is recorded from 1710, and the proverb a nod's as good as a wink (to a blind horse) from 1793.[1][16] In the 20th century the noun came to mean approval to go ahead (1924), a nomination for an award (1944), and an acknowledgement or allusion (1935).[1] American drug slang used it for the stupor of a narcotic, as a noun by 1937 and as a verb by 1958.[1][17][4] In northern English and Scots dialect to nod was simply to fall asleep, and noddy meant sleepy.[18]

Timeline

  • c. 1390 – to bow the head.[1]
  • c. 1425 – to let the head drop when drowsy.[1]
  • 1541 – noun, a nod of the head.[1][2]
  • 1578 – of plants, to bend and sway.[1]
  • 1677 – to make a slip.[1]
  • 1684 – nod off.[1]
  • 1710 – a nod and a wink.[1]
  • 1738 – the land of Nod, sleep.[1]
  • 1924 – the nod, approval.[1]
  • 1937 – (US slang) a drugged stupor.[1]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To lower and raise the head briefly, as a sign of agreement, greeting or command, or to point something out: She nodded towards the door.
  2. To express or show something by nodding: He nodded his thanks.
  3. To let the head fall forward when drowsy, to doze, or with off, to fall asleep.
  4. To make a small mistake through a lapse of attention.
  5. Of flowers, trees and the like, to bend and sway.
  6. (football) To head the ball gently.

Noun

  1. A quick downward movement of the head: He gave a nod of recognition.
  2. the nod: approval or permission to go ahead.
  3. A brief acknowledgement of or allusion to something.
  4. (slang) A drowsy state caused by narcotic drugs, as in on the nod.

Word family

  • nodder
  • nodding
  • nod off
  • land of Nod

nod2 nape

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1695, W. Kennett

Etymology

It is probably a shortening of noddle (“the back of the head”),[1][2] and Merriam-Webster calls it a back-formation from that word.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The nape of the neck: 1695, in White Kennett's Parochial Antiquities, on Kent dialect.[1][18]

Semantic evolution

Wright's English Dialect Dictionary records the word in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire, as in a Sussex speaker's "it catched me right across the nod of my neck".[18]

Timeline

  • 1695 – the nape of the neck.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (dialect, England) The nape of the neck.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  13. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  14. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  16. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  18. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this entry

“Nod.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/nod. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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