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nuzzle

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Etymology and origin of the English word nuzzle

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈnʌzl̩/[1]
  • US: /ˈnʌz(ə)l/[1]

nuzzle1 push or rub with the nose

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
c. 1450 St. Elizabeth of Spalbeck
Ultimate origin
Old English nosu

Etymology

The word for pushing or rubbing with the nose is inherited from Middle English nōselen (“to bend down, grovel”),[2][3][4][5] which the Middle English Dictionary, Etymonline and Barnhart take as probably a back-formation from Middle English noselyng (“face-downward, prostrate”), an adverb formed from nose and -ling.[2][6][3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the Shorter Oxford derive it from the noun with a frequentative suffix,[5][7] and the revised OED, which calls the origin uncertain, suggests the noun with the suffix -le, comparing Dutch neuzelen (“to speak nasally; to snuffle, snoop about”), the regional German nuseln and the regional Swedish nösla (“to rootle for fodder, snuffle”).[8] Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English think the verb was later reinforced by the Dutch one, which is from neus (“nose”).[9][10][7] The OED also reports that the Scottish National Dictionary sees it as a frequentative of Scots knuse (“to squeeze, press, pummel”).[8] The noun nose is from Old English nosu.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bring the nose towards the ground, to bend down or grovel: about 1450, in a Middle English life of St Elizabeth of Spalbeck, which says that she "noseles downe forwarde".[2][8] Barnhart dates the verb to about 1425.[3]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English sense of bending down soon died out.[8][7] The sense of burrowing or rooting with the nose is first recorded in Palsgrave's French–English dictionary of 1530,[8][3][5] and that of poking or pushing with the nose in Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis (1594 in the OED, 1592 in Barnhart).[8][3] In 1597 it was first used for lying snug or nestling,[8][3] a sense that Etymonline and Barnhart put down to the influence of nestle, and that Etymonline and Weekley connect with nursle, a frequentative of nurse.[6][3][11] From 1637 it was used of nestling close to a person, later often with up, and since 1707 of lovers lying close together.[8] The modern sense of touching or rubbing gently with the nose is recorded from 1812.[8] In 19th-century dialect, from Scotland and Northumberland to Somerset and Cornwall, it was used of pigs rooting with the snout and of a child pushing its nose into its nurse's bosom; in the north of England it could also mean to waste time on trifles, or to loiter.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – to bend down towards the ground, to grovel (obsolete).[8][2] Barnhart dates the verb to about 1425.[3]
  • 1530 – to burrow or dig with the nose.[8][3][5] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1520s.[6]
  • 1594 – to poke or push with the nose into something.[8]
  • 1597 – to lie snug; to nestle.[8][3]
  • 1603 – to press or rub the nose against something.[8]
  • 1613 – transitive, to root up with the nose or snout.[8]
  • 1707 – of lovers, to lie close together.[8]
  • 1812 – to touch or rub with the nose.[8]
  • 1865 – noun, an act of nuzzling.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To push or rub gently with the nose or snout, often as a sign of affection: The foal nuzzled its mother's flank.[13][5][8]
  2. To burrow or root with the nose or snout: pigs nuzzling in the straw.[5][13][8]
  3. To nestle or snuggle close to someone: The puppy nuzzled up against the boy.[13][8]
  4. (obsolete) To bend down towards the ground; to grovel.[8][7][2]

Noun

  1. An act of nuzzling; a rub with the nose.[8]

Word family

  • nuzzler

nuzzle2 train, nurture

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
1519 Horman's Vulgaria

Etymology

The word for training or nurturing someone is of uncertain origin.[8][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged calls it unknown.[5] The Shorter Oxford suggests that it is perhaps the same as nuzzle1,[7] and the OED compares that verb and the later nursle: it notes that the word is hard to separate in form from nuzzle¹, but that its early senses are hard to derive from those of nuzzle¹, and that the sense of nursing fondly may have arisen independently and only later been associated with nestling.[8] Mayhew and Skeat listed the senses "to nurse, to rear up, to fondle closely" under noselen.[14] Johnson thought the word, in its original sense, a corruption of nursle, later taken by writers to come from nose.[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

To train or educate a person in an opinion, habit or custom, often with up: 1519, in Horman's Vulgaria.[8][7]

Semantic evolution

According to the OED, the word was very common in this sense from about 1530 to 1650.[8] From 1530 it was also used of training a dog or hawk to attack other animals,[8][7] and, after 1558, more generally of bringing up or rearing.[8] From before 1577 it meant to nurse or cherish fondly, or to give a snug resting place, a sense the OED calls literary in later use, recorded until 1891;[8] Merriam-Webster Unabridged marks it chiefly British.[5] Johnson (1755) gave "to nurse; to foster" as the first sense of nuzzle, quoting Sidney's "old men long nuzzled in corruption".[15] A rare sense, to impose upon or deceive, is recorded from about 1680 to 1705.[8][7]

Timeline

  • 1519 – to train or educate someone in an opinion or habit (until 1680).[8][7]
  • 1530 – to train a dog or hawk to attack other animals (until 1688).[8][7]
  • 1558 – to bring up, rear (until 1645).[8]
  • before 1577 – to nurse, cherish fondly; to provide with a snug resting place.[8]
  • c. 1680 – to impose upon, deceive (rare, until 1705).[8][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (chiefly British) To nurse or cherish fondly; to settle someone snugly.[5][8]
  2. (obsolete, 1519–1680) To train or bring someone up in a practice, opinion or habit.[8][5][7]
  3. (obsolete, 1530–1688) To train a dog or hawk to attack other animals.[8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ Mayhew, A. L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  15. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Nuzzle.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/nuzzle. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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