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nutmeg

Etymology and origin of the English word nutmeg

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈnʌt.mɛɡ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English notemuge,[2][3][4][5][6] a partial translation of Anglo-French or Old North French *noiz mugue,[3][4] from Old French nois muguete, an alteration of nois muscade “nut smelling like musk”,[2][3][4] from Occitan notz muscada,[2][5] from Latin nux (“nut”) and muscada “musky”.[2][4][5] It was probably also influenced by Medieval Latin nux muscata or nux maga.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The hard aromatic seed of an East Indian tree, used as a spice (c. 1300).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The name was extended to the tree itself (1594, in nutmeg-tree) and to varieties of fruit (1664).[7] In American English a wooden nutmeg is anything false or fraudulent (1827–30),[7][4] from the story that wooden nutmegs were made in Connecticut for sale, which is hence called the Nutmeg State.[4] In football, to nutmeg is to play the ball between an opponent's legs.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – the spice.[7][3][4]
  • 1594 – nutmeg-tree.[7]
  • c. 1610 – used of a colour or appearance.[7]
  • 1827 – wooden nutmeg, a fraud.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The hard, aromatic seed of an evergreen tree, Myristica fragrans, of the Moluccas, used grated or ground as a spice.
  2. The tree that produces this seed.
  3. A greyish to moderate brown colour.

Verb

  1. (football) To play the ball between the legs of (an opponent).

Word family

  • nutmegged
  • musk
  • muscat
  • mace
  • nucleus

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Nutmeg.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/nutmeg. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·