English
none
None comes from Middle English none, from Old English nān ‘not one’, from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nainaz1‘none, nought’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nain1reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150nān1‘not one, not any’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500none1
- Englishearliest quotation 1526none1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English none
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nainazWiktionary, English none‘none, nought’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nainWiktionary, English nonereconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150nānWiktionary, English none‘not one, not any’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500noneWiktionary, English none
- Englishearliest quotation 1526noneWiktionary, English none. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ís ‘this, he’
id, universally, yonder, yon, 14 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
unique, union, universal, unite, null, uno, triune, 21 more
through Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’
an, any, only, one, eleventh, 3 more
through Old English nān ‘not one, not any, none’
through Middle English none
Another origin of none
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōna‘ninth’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentnone
- Englishtodaynone
Today it means
pron Not any of a given number or group.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “none”. 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-Germanic *nainaz / none