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Origin and history of *ne-

*ne-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "not."

It might form all or part of: a- (3) "not, without;" abnegate; ahimsa; an- (1) privative prefix; annihilate; annul; aught (n.2) "zero, nothing;" deny; hobnob; in- (1) "not, opposite of, without;" ixnay; naught; naughty; nay; nefarious; negate; neglect; negligee; negotiate; neither; nepenthe; nescience; nescient; neuter; never; nice; nihilism; nihility; nil; nill; nimiety; nix; no; non-; none; nonplus; nor; not; nothing; null; nullify; nulliparous; renegade; renege; un- (1) prefix of negation; willy-nilly.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit a-, an- "not;" Avestan na "not;" Greek a-, an-, ne- "not;" Latin in- "not," ne "that not;" Old Church Slavonic and Lithuanian ne "not;" Old Irish an-, ni, Cornish ny "not;" Gothic and Old English un- "not."

Entries linking to *ne-

abnegate(v.)

"deny (something) to oneself," 1650s, from Latin abnegatus, past participle of abnegare "to refuse, deny," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + negare "to deny" (from PIE root *ne- "not"). Related: Abnegated; abnegating.

ahimsa(n.)

doctrine of non-violence, 1875, from Sanskrit ahimsa, from a "without" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + himsa "injury."

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aught
"something, anything," late 12c., from Old English awiht "aught, anything, something," literally "e'er a whit," from a- "ever" (from Proto-Germanic *aiwi- "ever," extended form of PIE root *aiw- "vital force, life; long life, eternity") + *wihti "thing, anything whatever" (see wi
deny
early 14c., "declare to be untrue or untenable," from Old French denoiir "deny, repudiate, withhold," from Latin denegare "to deny, reject, refuse" (source of Italian dinegarre, Spanish denegar), from de "away" (see de-) + negare "refuse, say 'no,' " from Old Latin nec "not," fro
hobnob
1763, "to drink to each other," from hob and nob (1756) "to toast each other by turns, to buy alternate rounds of drinks," alteration of hab nab "to have or have not, hit or miss" (c. 1550), which is probably ultimately from Old English habban, nabban "have, not have," (that is,
no
"not in any degree, not at all," Middle English, from Old English na, from ne "not, no" + a "ever."...The first element is from Proto-Germanic *ne (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian, Old High German ne, Gothic ni "not")..., from PIE root *ne- "not."...
utopia
Linguists presume a pre-Greek phrase *(ne) hoiu (kwid) "(not on your) life," with ne "not" + *kwid, an "emphasizing particle...
croquet
On sait qui a imaginé l'imprimerie, qui a découvert la vapeur, et l'on ne connaît pas l'inventeur du croquet....A moins, pourtant, qu'enfant de la nature et sorti tout entier de la main du Créateur, comme Ève de la côte d'Adam, il ne...
scanty
of the horrible disordinat scantnesse of clothyng as ben thise kutted sloppes or hanselyns, that thurgh hire shortnesse ne...
cotton
late 13c., "white fibrous substance containing the seeds of the cotton plant," from Old French coton (12c.), ultimately (via Provençal, Italian, or Old Spanish) from Arabic qutn, a word perhaps of Egyptian origin. Also ultimately from the Arabic word are Dutch katoen, German Katt
pitch
"thick, tenacious, resinous substance obtained from tar or turpentine, wood tar," late 12c., pich, piche, from Old English pic "pitch," from a Germanic borrowing (compare Old Saxon and Old Frisian pik, Middle Dutch pik, Dutch pek, Old High German pek, German Pech, Old Norse bik)
realism
"the doctrine of a realist," in any sense of that word, 1794, originally in philosophy, from real (adj.) + -ism; after French réalisme or German Realismus; from Late Latin realis "real." In reference to scholastic doctrine of Thomas Aquinas (opposed to nominalism), it is recorded

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