Etymograph

English

nocent

Nocent comes from Latin nocens ‘injuring, doing harm, hurting’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-1‘perish, disappear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*noḱ-éye-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nokeō1‘to harm, hurt, injure’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnoceō2as nocere, present participle‘to harm’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnocens2‘injuring, doing harm, hurting’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nocent2‘guilty’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1563nocent2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin noceo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English nocent
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1563, King John: “Nocent, not innocent he is, that seeketh to deface,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-Wiktionary, Latin noceo‘perish, disappear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*noḱ-éye-tiWiktionary, Latin noceoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nokeōWiktionary, Latin noceo‘to harm, hurt, injure’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnoceōWiktionary, English nocentas nocere, present participle‘to harm’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnocensWiktionary, English nocent‘injuring, doing harm, hurting’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nocentWiktionary, English nocent‘guilty’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1563nocentWiktionary, English nocent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1563, King John: “Nocent, not innocent he is, that seeketh to deface,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’

nectar, obnoxious, necropolis, internecine, 18 more

through Latin noceō ‘to harm’

nuisance, noxious, innocuous, 13 more

through Latin nocens ‘injuring, doing harm, hurting’

innocence, 3 more

Today it means

adj Causing injury; harmful.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nocent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin noceo. 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 *neḱ- / nocent

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