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Origin and history of narrow

narrow(adj.)

Middle English narwe, from Old English nearu "of little width, not wide or broad; constricted, limited; petty; causing difficulty, oppressive; strict, severe," from West Germanic *narwaz "narrowness" (source also of Frisian nar, Old Saxon naru, Middle Dutch nare, Dutch naar) which is not found in other Germanic languages and is of unknown origin.

In reference to railroads, narrow-gauge (also narrow-gage) is by 1841, originally of those less than the standard of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches. The narrow seas (mid-15c.) were the waters between Great Britain and the continent and Ireland, but specifically the Strait of Dover.

narrow(v.)

Middle English narwen, from narrow (adj.) and in part from Old English nearwian "to force in, cramp, confine; become smaller, shrink." Related: Narrowed; narrowing.

narrow(n.)

c. 1200, nearewe "narrow part, place, or thing," from narrow (adj.). Old English nearu (n.) meant "danger, distress, difficulty," also "prison, hiding place."

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to narrow

narrowly(adv.)

Old English nearolice "with little breadth or extent, closely; strictly; carefully;" see narrow (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "only by a little, by a small distance" is attested from 1550s.

narrow-minded(adj.)

also narrowminded, "bigoted, illiberal, of confined views or sentiments," 1620s, from narrow (adj.) + -minded. Related: Narrow-mindedness. Middle English had narrow-hearted "mean, ungenerous, ignoble" (c. 1200).

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Trends of narrow

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

wide
Old English wid "vast, broad, long," also used of time, from Proto-Germanic *widaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian wid, Old Norse viðr, Dutch wijd, Old High German wit, German weit), perhaps from PIE *wi-ito-, from root *wi- "apart, away, in half." Meaning "distended, expa
contract
late 14c., "to draw into a smaller compass, become smaller, shrink" (intransitive); early 15c. "make an agreement, enter into a contract, agree or establish to undertake mutually," from Old French contracter and directly from Latin contractus, past participle of contrahere "to dr
strait
mid-14c., streit, "narrow, confined space or place," especially narrow pass or passage between hills; by late 14c. in reference...to a narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies; from Anglo-French estreit, estrait "narrow part, pass, defile..., narrow passage of water," variant of Old French estroit, a noun use of the adjective (for which see strait (adj.))....For strait and narrow "conventional or wisely limited way of life," see straight (adj.2)....
suffocation
stifling," noun of action from past-participle stem of suffocare "suffocate, throttle, stifle, strangle," originally "to narrow...up," from sub "up (from under)" (see sub-) + fauces (plural) "throat, narrow entrance" (see faucet)....
gorge
mid-14c., "throat," from Old French gorge "throat; a narrow passage" (12c.), from Late Latin gurges "gullet, throat, jaws...Transferred sense of "deep, narrow valley" was in Old French....
drumlin
"long, narrow ridge or hill of sand, gravel, and boulders," in areas of Ice Age glaciation and formed somehow by the movement...of the ice, 1833, a diminutive of earlier drum (1725) "ridge or long, narrow hill," often separating two parallel valleys...
specify
early 14c., specifien, "to speak, make plain, say" (intransitive); mid-14c., transitive, "to name (someone or something) explicitly," from Old French specifier, especefier (13c.) and directly from Late Latin specificare "mention particularly," from specificus (see specific). Rela
artist
1580s, "one who cultivates one of the fine arts," from French artiste (14c.), from Italian artista, from Medieval Latin artista, from Latin ars (see art (n.)). Originally especially of the arts presided over by the Muses (history, poetry, comedy, tragedy, music, dancing, astronom
change
c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),

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