Etymograph

English

nor

Nor comes from Middle English nouther ‘neither, nor’, and goes back to Old English nāhwæþer.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150nāhwæþer1‘neither’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nouther2as nother‘neither’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nauther2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1601nor2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English nouther
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English nor
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […]: “Nor you nor your house were so much as…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150nāhwæþerWiktionary, Middle English nouther‘neither’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500noutherWiktionary, English noras nother‘neither’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nautherWiktionary, English nor
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1601norWiktionary, English nor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […]: “Nor you nor your house were so much as…”

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Today it means

conj And... not (introducing a negative statement, without necessarily following one).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English nouther. 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 / Old English nāhwæþer / nor