Etymologically
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nowhere

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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

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