nerve English · revision 6933

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1385|origins=la nervus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nɜːv/ ''(UK)''; /nɝv/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English nerf, nerve, [[bor|fro|nerf|t=sinew, tendon, nerve]] and directly Medieval Latin and Latin [[m|la|nervus|t=sinew, tendon; cord, bowstring]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) with metathesis from a pre-Latin *neuros,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*(s)neh₁w-|alt=*(s)neu-|t=tendon, sinew]], also the source of Greek [[m|grc|νεῦρον|tr=neûron|t=sinew, nerve]] and Sanskrit snāvan, sinew.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Hoad relates it to Latin nēre, to spin.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A sinew or tendon: about 1385, in Chaucer's ''Troilus and Criseyde'';^(Barnhart 1988) a nerve in the modern sense before 1400.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Medieval surgeons understood the nerves, but often confused them with tendons.^(Etymonline) From the sinew sense came strength, vigour and force (about 1600), which led to the main strength of something, as in ''the nerves of war'' (1603).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Courage or firmness of mind is from about 1600, and coolness in danger by 1809;^(Etymonline) Word Origins dates the sense ''boldness'' from the early 19th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The bad sense, impudent boldness, cheek, is from 1887,^(Etymonline) and ''nerves'', nervousness, from the 19th century.^(AHD) The verb, to give strength to, is from 1749, now usually ''nerve oneself''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1385 – a sinew.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1400 – a nerve.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1600 – strength; courage.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1749 – to give strength (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1809 – coolness in danger.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1887 – impudence.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bundle of fibres that carries impulses between the brain or spinal cord and other parts of the body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Courage and steadiness in a difficult situation.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Impudent boldness; [[cheek]]: ''what a nerve!''^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(nerves)'' Nervousness or anxiety.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(botany)'' A [[vein]] in a leaf.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(nerve oneself)'' To summon the courage to do something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[enervate]]

+ * [[neuron]]

+ * [[nervous]]

+ * [[nervure]]

+ * [[nervy]]

+ * [[neural]]

+ * [[neurosis]]

+ * [[sinew]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}