nut

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nʌt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nute, note, inherited from Old English hnutu (“nut”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hnut-,^[3][2] source also of Dutch noot, German Nuss and Old Norse hnot,^[3][2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *kneu-, nut,^[3][2] source also of Old Irish cnū, Welsh cneuen and Latin nux (“nut”) (see nucleus).^[2][4][5] Barnhart notes that the word is found only in the westernmost Indo-European languages, Celtic, Germanic and Italic.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fruit with a hard shell enclosing a kernel: about 700 in Barnhart, about 875 in the OED.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

As a symbol of something trifling it is from about 1300, and nut-brown is from the same time.^[6][3] Nut was used of small mechanical pieces from the early 15th century,^[3] and the small threaded block screwed onto a bolt is first recorded in 1611.^[2] The informal sense, a person's head, lies behind do one's nut and off one's nut, drunk or insane (1860).^[5][2] A crazy person or crank is first recorded in 1903, in American English,^[2][3] an enthusiast in the early 20th century,^[5] and a showy young man of fashion in 1904.^[3] The testicles (nuts) are by 1915.^[3][6] The sum of money needed for something is American slang by 1912,^[3] and nuts and bolts, fundamentals, is by 1952.^[3] Nut-house is by 1929, nutcase from 1959, and British nutter by 1958.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 700 – a nut.^[2]
• c. 1300 – nut-brown.^[3]
• 1611 – a nut for a bolt.^[2]
• 1860 – off one's nut.^[2]
• 1903 – a crazy person.^[2]
• 1915 – the testicles.^[6]
• 1952 – nuts and bolts.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hard-shelled fruit containing an edible kernel, such as a hazelnut, or the kernel itself.
2. A small block with a threaded hole that screws onto a bolt.
3. (informal) A crazy or eccentric person.
4. (informal) An enthusiast: a baseball nut.
5. (slang) The human head.
6. A difficult problem: a hard nut to crack.

Verb

1. To gather nuts.

Word family

• nutter
• nutlike

Related words

• nuts
• nutty
• nucleus
• nougat
• walnut

Usage notes

In Nottinghamshire dialect, to nut up was to push or move slightly, to nudge.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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)