Etymograph

English

nomos

Nomos comes from Ancient Greek νόμος ‘usage’, from νέμω ‘to distribute’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ném-e-ti ‘to assign, allot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ném-e-ti1‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*némō1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνέμω2‘to distribute’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνόμος3nómos‘usage’
  5. Englishtodaynomos3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek νέμω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek νόμος
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English nomos

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ném-e-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek νέμω‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*némōWiktionary, Ancient Greek νέμωreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνέμωWiktionary, Ancient Greek νόμος‘to distribute’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνόμοςWiktionary, English nomosnómos‘usage’
  5. EnglishtodaynomosWiktionary, English nomos

Linked words

through Ancient Greek νέμω ‘to distribute’

numismatics, noma, 8 more

through Ancient Greek νόμος ‘usage’

numismatic, nome, 8 more

Another origin of nomos

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ném-e-ti‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*némōreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνέμωnémō‘to divide’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνομόςnomós‘district’
  5. Englishtodaynomos

Today it means

noun The body of law, especially that governing human behaviour.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nomos”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek νέμω, Ancient Greek νόμος. 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 *ném-e-ti / nomos

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