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nuisance

Etymology and origin of the English word nuisance

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈnjuːsəns/ (UK); /ˈnusəns/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English,[2][3] from Anglo-Norman nusaunce and Old French nuisance (“harm, damage”),[2][4][5][3] from nuire “to harm”,[2][4][5][3] from Vulgar Latin *nocere,[2][4] from Latin nocēre (“to hurt”).[2][4][5][3] It is related to noxious.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Injury, hurt or harm (about 1400).[6][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the sense has softened over time.[5] It came to mean anything injurious to the community or to an owner of property, a legal sense (1464),[6] then anything obnoxious such as bad smells or eyesores (1660s),[5][6] and from 1831 merely a source of annoyance.[5][6] It was applied to people from the 1690s.[5][6]

Timeline

  • about 1400 – injury, harm.[6][4][5]
  • 1464 – something injurious to the community, in law.[6]
  • 1661 – anything offensive or obnoxious.[6][5]
  • 1695 – an annoying person.[6][5]
  • 1831 – a source of annoyance.[6][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person or thing that is annoying or inconvenient; a pest or bother.
  2. (law) A use of property or a course of conduct that harms others or interferes with their rights.
  3. (archaic) Harm or injury.

Word family

  • attractive nuisance
  • noxious
  • innocuous

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Nuisance.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/nuisance. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·