Etymologically
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nose

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /nəʊz/, US /noʊz/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nose, inherited from Old English nosu,[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *nusō,[2][3] also the source of Old Frisian nose and Dutch neus, and probably related to a parallel Old English nasu, Old High German nasa (German Nase) and Old Norse nǫs.[3][4][5] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *nas- (“nose”),[2][3] the source also of Latin nāsus, Lithuanian nósis, Old Church Slavonic nosŭ and Sanskrit nāsā.[3][5] It is related to nasal, nostril and ness “headland”.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The part of the face containing the nostrils: about 897 in the OED, before 899 in Barnhart, in Alfred's Pastoral Care.[8][3]

Semantic evolution

Animals' snouts and beaks are called noses from the mid-13th century, and any projecting part like a nose from the late 14th century.[2] The sense of smell is from the mid-14th century,[2][8] and the smell or bouquet of a wine from 1894.[2][8] Under one's nose is from the mid-15th century,[2] as plain as the nose on one's face from the 1590s,[2] and cut off one's nose to spite one's face from the mid 16th century, after medieval Latin and French proverbs.[6] Pay through the nose is from the 1670s, perhaps suggesting bleeding.[2] A police informer has been a nose since the 1780s.[6] Turn up one's nose is from 1818,[2] and horse racing's by a nose from 1908.[2][8] The verb, to smell out, is from 1577–1587, and to pry from 1648.[3] Nosy first meant big-nosed or bad-smelling, and inquisitive from the 19th century.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 897 – the nose.[8]
  • mid-13th century – an animal's snout.[2]
  • mid-14th century – the sense of smell.[2]
  • late 14th century – a projecting part.[2]
  • 1577–87 – verb, to smell out.[3]
  • 1648 – verb, to pry.[3]
  • 1670s – pay through the nose.[2]
  • 1894 – the smell of wine.[2][8]
  • 1908 – by a nose.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The part of the face above the mouth, used for breathing and smelling.
  2. The sense of smell, or the smell of a wine.
  3. A natural ability to find or notice things: a nose for news.
  4. The front part of an aircraft, car or other vehicle.

Verb

  1. To move forward slowly and carefully.
  2. To pry or search, often with around or about.
  3. To find out by smell, or as if by smell.
  4. To push or touch with the nose; to nuzzle.

Word family

  • noseless
  • noselike
  • brown-nose
  • nosey
  • nose out

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 m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press