Etymograph

English

next

Next comes from Old English nīehst ‘nearest, next’, the superlative of nēah ‘nigh’, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwist ‘nearest’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- ‘to reach’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂neḱ-1‘to reach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwaz2‘near, nigh’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhw3as *nēhwist‘near, close’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwist3‘nearest, closest’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nāhwist3reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150nīehst3‘nearest, next’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nexte3
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605next3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nēhw
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English next
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “A prophet I, Madam; and I speak the truth…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂neḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz‘to reach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nēhw‘near, nigh’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwWiktionary, English nextas *nēhwist‘near, close’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwistWiktionary, English next‘nearest, closest’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nāhwistWiktionary, English nextreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150nīehstWiktionary, English next‘nearest, next’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nexteWiktionary, English next
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605nextWiktionary, English next. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “A prophet I, Madam; and I speak the truth…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with next, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz ‘near’

  • neighbour ← neighebour ← nēahġebūr ← *nāhwagabūrō ← *nēhwagabūrô

through Old English nēah ‘nigh’

4 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *h₂neḱ- →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

adj Nearest in place or position, having nothing similar intervening; adjoining.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “next”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz, Proto-Germanic *nēhw. 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 *h₂neḱ- / next