Etymograph

English

denude

Denude comes from Latin dēnūdāre, from nūdus ‘bare’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- ‘to be naked’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*negʷ-1‘to be naked’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nogʷós2‘naked’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nogʷedʰós2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nogʷedos2‘naked’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūdus3‘bare’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnūdāre3
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dénuder3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1849denude3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin nudus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English denude
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849, Herman Melville, Mardi: And a Voyage Thither. […]: “But King Piko had been long harassed with the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*negʷ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós‘to be naked’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nogʷósWiktionary, Latin nudus‘naked’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nogʷedʰósWiktionary, Latin nudusreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nogʷedosWiktionary, Latin nudus‘naked’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūdusWiktionary, English denude‘bare’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnūdāreWiktionary, English denude
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dénuderWiktionary, English denude
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1849denudeWiktionary, English denude. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849, Herman Melville, Mardi: And a Voyage Thither. […]: “But King Piko had been long harassed with the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- ‘to be naked’

night, naked, negro, gymnastics, noir, nigger, nocturnal, actin, nox, nocturne, nigella, denigrate, 51 more

through Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós ‘naked’

gymnasium, gymnast, naga, 12 more

through Latin nūdus ‘bare’

nudism, 6 more

Today it means

verb To divest of all covering; to make bare or naked; to strip.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “denude”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós, Latin nudus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- / denude

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