Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of nor

nor(conj.)

"and not," mid-13c., from ne (adv.) "no" + or (conj.), or else a contraction of Middle English nauther (see neither) and influenced in form by or. Generally correlative to neither or some other negative.

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to nor

neither(conj., adv.)

"not one or the other," Middle English neither, naither, nether, from Old English nawþer, contraction of nahwæþer, literally "not of two," from na "no" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + hwæþer "which of two" (see whether). Spelling altered c. 1200 by association with either. Paired with nor from c. 1300; earlier with ne. Meaning "not in any case, in no case, not at all" is from 1550s. Also used in late Old English as a pronoun. As an adjective, "not either," mid-14c.

or(conj.)

c. 1200, "either, else, otherwise, as an alternative or substitute," from Old English conjunction oþþe "either, or," which is related to Old Frisian ieftha, Middle Dutch ofte, Old Norse eða, Old High German odar, German oder, Gothic aiþþau "or."

This word was extended in early Middle English (and Old High German) with an -r ending, perhaps by analogy with "choice between alternative" words that ended thus (such as either, whether); then it was reduced to oþþr, at first in unstressed positions (commonly thus in Northern and Midlands English by 1300), and finally to or, though other survived in this sense until 16c.

Compare either, which is originally the same word. The contraction took place in the second term of an alternative, such as either ... or, descended from a common construction in Old English, where both words originally were oþþe (see nor). Or else "otherwise" is by c. 1300.

*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."