Etymograph

English

no

No comes from Old English nān ‘none, not any’, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz ‘not any’ (literally ‘not one’), and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos1‘one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ainaz1‘one’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nainaz2‘not any’literally ‘not one’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nain2reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nān2‘none, not any’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500noon2‘no, not any’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500no2
  8. Englishtodayno2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nainaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English no

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynosWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nainaz‘one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ainazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *nainaz‘one’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nainazWiktionary, English no‘not any’literally ‘not one’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nainWiktionary, English noreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nānWiktionary, English no‘none, not any’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500noonWiktionary, English no‘no, not any’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500noWiktionary, English no
  8. EnglishtodaynoWiktionary, English no

The story

Inherited from Middle English no, noo, na, a reduced form of none, noon, nan (‘none, not any’) used before consonants (compare a to an), from Old English nān (‘none, not any’), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“not any”, literally “not one”), equivalent to ne (‘not’) + a.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with no, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ís ‘this, he’

  • id ← is ← *is
  • universally ← universal ← universel ← ūniversālis ← ūniversus
  • yonder ← ġeonre ← *jainar ← *jainaz
  • yon ← ġeon ← *jain ← *jainaz

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’

  • union ← unyoun ← ūniō ← ūnus ← oinos
  • unique ← unicus ← ūnus ← oinos ← *oinos
  • universal ← ūniversālis ← ūniversus ← versus ← ūnus
  • unite ← uniten ← ūnītus ← ūniō ← ūnus
  • null ← nul ← nul ← nūllus ← *noinolos
  • uno ← ūnus ← oinos ← *oinos
  • triune ← triūnus ← ūnus ← oinos ← *oinos

through Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’

  • an ← *ain

43 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *h₁óynos →

Another origin of no

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*né‘not’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ne‘not’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*naiwô‘never’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*naiwōreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nā‘no, not, not ever, never’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500no
  7. Englishtodayno

Another origin of no

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE(in) numerō‘in number, to the number of’
  2. Englishtodayno

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

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

Today it means

det Not any.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “no”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *nainaz. 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 *h₁óynos / no