Etymograph

English

nose

Nose comes from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, presumably from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s ‘nose’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néh₂s1‘nose, nostril’uncertain
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nosu1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150nosu1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nose1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602nose1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nose
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “[…] if you finde him not this moneth, you…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néh₂sWiktionary, English nose‘nose, nostril’uncertain
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nosuWiktionary, English nosereconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150nosuWiktionary, English nose
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500noseWiktionary, English nose
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602noseWiktionary, English nose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “[…] if you finde him not this moneth, you…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with nose, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Middle English nose

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nose”. 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 *néh₂s / nose