Etymograph

English

nowhere

Nowhere comes from Middle English nowher, from Old English nōhwēr, from nā- ‘not, no’ + hwǣr ‘where’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150nōhwēr1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nowher1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1872nowhere1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nowhere
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1872, Reviews of Postal Publications: “As a foreign stamp gazette it is nowhere. An…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150nōhwērWiktionary, English nowhere
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nowherWiktionary, English nowhere
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1872nowhereWiktionary, English nowhere. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1872, Reviews of Postal Publications: “As a foreign stamp gazette it is nowhere. An…”

The story

Adjective usage is taken from phrases like nowhere on the map (signifying the location was too small or too insignificant to be listed), nowhere you want to be, etc.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

adv In no place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nowhere”. 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 nōhwēr / nowhere