Etymograph

English

nobody

Nobody comes from Middle English nobody.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nobody1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1835nobody1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nobody
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1835, Charlotte Brontë: ““‘The nobody you once thought me!’ I repeated, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nobodyWiktionary, English nobody
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1835nobodyWiktionary, English nobody. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1835, Charlotte Brontë: ““‘The nobody you once thought me!’ I repeated, and…”

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Today it means

pron Not any person; the logical negation of somebody.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nobody”. 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 / Middle English nobody / nobody