nowhere

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈnəʊ.weə/, /ˈnəʊ.hweə/, US /ˈnoʊ.wer/, /ˈnoʊ.hwer/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nowher, inherited from Old English nāhwǣr (“nowhere, not at all”), later nōhwǣr,^[2][3][4] formed from nā (“no”) and hwǣr (“where”).^[3][4] See no and where.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In or at no place, not anywhere: 971.^[6]

Semantic evolution

To no place is from the 13th century.^[6] Nowhere near, not nearly, is from 1413.^[6] To be nowhere, badly beaten in a race, is from 1755.^[6] The colloquial nowheres is from 1803.^[2] As a noun, a place that doesn't exist is from 1831, and a remote place from 1908,^[6][2] as in the middle of nowhere, which Etymonline dates to 1848.^[2] A road to nowhere was a road leading to no destination by 1800, and a course of action leading to no result by 1891.^[2] The sense “a dull, insignificant person or thing” is from 1940.^[6]

Timeline

• 971 – in no place.^[6]
• 1413 – nowhere near.^[6]
• 1755 – to be nowhere, beaten.^[6]
• 1831 – the noun, a nonexistent place.^[6]
• 1908 – a remote place.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. Not in or to any place; not anywhere.
2. To no result: the talks got nowhere.

Noun

1. A remote or unknown place: the middle of nowhere.
2. A state of being unknown: he came from nowhere to win.

Word family

• Nowheresville

Related words

• anywhere
• anyplace
• everywhere
• everyplace
• somewhere
• someplace
• nobody
• no one
• nothing
• no
• where

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