*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of now

From Middle English nou, nu, from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), from Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”). Doublet of nu ("well?"). Cognates Cognate with Scots noo, nou, now (“

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
adj

Present; current. · Fashionable; popular; up to date; current.

adv

At the present time. · Used to introduce a point, a qualification of what has previously been said, a remonstration or a rebuke. · Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times. · At the time reached within a narration.

intj

Indicates a signal to begin.

conj

Since, because, in light of the fact.

noun

The present time. · The state of not paying attention to the future or the past. · A particular instant in time, as perceived at that instant.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English nou, nu, from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), from Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”). Doublet of nu ("well?"). Cognates Cognate with Scots noo, nou, now (“now”), Yola neow, now, nowe (“now”), North Frisian nü (“now”), West Frisian no (“now”), Dutch nu, nou (“now”), German nu, nun (“now”), Limburgish noe, Nuu (“now”), Danish and Swedish nu (“now”), Elfdalian nų (“now”), Faroese nú, núgv (“now”), Icelandic nú, núna (“now”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk no, nu, nå (“now”), Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu, “now”); also Gaulish nu (“now”), Latin num (“now”), Greek νυν (nyn, “currently, now”), Albanian ni, tani (“now”), Bulgarian ни́не (níne, “currently, now”), Czech nyní (“now”), Old Polish ninie (“now”), Russian но́не (nóne), ны́не (nýne, “now, today”), Ukrainian ни́ні (nýni, “nowadays; today”), Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “currently, now”), Baluchi نون (nún, “now”), Persian اکنون (aknun / aknūn), کنون (konun), نون (nun / nūn, “now”), Northern Kurdish ana, anaka, anêka, aniha, anika, naga, naha, naka, niha, niho, nika, noke, ئانا (ana), نکا (nka, “now”), Ossetian ныр (nyr, “now”), Hittite 𒆠𒉡𒌦 (ki-nu-un, “now”), Luwian 𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦 (nānun, “now”), Tocharian A nuṃ (“again, once more”), Tocharian B nano (“again, once more”), Sanskrit नु (nu, “now”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionnouenm
  • Inherited-form mentionnūang
  • Inherited-form mention*nūgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*nugem-pro · now
  • Inherited-form mention*nūine-pro · now
  • Cognate mentionnoosco
  • Cognate mentionneowyol
  • Cognate mentionnüfrr · now
  • Cognate mentionnofy · now
  • Cognate mentionnunl
  • Cognate mentionnude
  • Cognate mentionnoeli
  • Cognate mentionnųovd · now
  • Cognate mentionnúfo
  • Cognate mentionnúis
  • Cognate mention𐌽𐌿got · now
  • Cognate mentionnucel-gau · now
  • Cognate mentionnumla · now
  • Cognate mentionνυνel · currently, now
  • Cognate mentionnisq
  • Cognate mentionни́неbg · currently, now
  • Cognate mentionnynícs · now
  • Cognate mentionniniezlw-opl · now
  • Cognate mentionно́неru
  • Cognate mentionни́ніuk · nowadays; today
  • Cognate mention𐬥𐬏ae · currently, now
  • Cognate mentionنونbal · now
  • Cognate mentionاکنونfa
  • Cognate mentionanakmr
  • Cognate mentionнырos · now
  • Cognate mention𒆠𒉡𒌦hit · now
  • Cognate mention𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦xlu · now
  • Cognate mentionnuṃxto · again, once more
  • Cognate mentionnanotxb · again, once more
  • Cognate mentionनुsa · now

This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "nou"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English nou"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "nū"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English nū"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*nū"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *nū"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*nu",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*nū",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "dbt",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nu"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of nu"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "noo"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots noo"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yol",
        "2": "neow"
      },
      "expansion": "Yola neow"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frr",
        "2": "nü",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "North Frisian nü (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "no",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian no (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "nu"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch nu"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "nu"
      },
      "expansion": "German nu"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "li",
        "2": "noe"
      },
      "expansion": "Limburgish noe"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,sv",
        "2": "nu",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish and Swedish nu (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ovd",
        "2": "nų",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Elfdalian nų (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "nú"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese nú"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "nú"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic nú"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb,nn",
        "2": "no"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk no"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌽𐌿",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu, “now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cel-gau",
        "2": "nu",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Gaulish nu (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "num",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin num (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "el",
        "2": "νυν",
        "t": "currently, now"
      },
      "expansion": "Greek νυν (nyn, “currently, now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "ni"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian ni"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bg",
        "2": "ни́не",
        "t": "currently, now"
      },
      "expansion": "Bulgarian ни́не (níne, “currently, now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cs",
        "2": "nyní",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Czech nyní (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "zlw-opl",
        "2": "ninie",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Polish ninie (“now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "но́не"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian но́не (nóne)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "uk",
        "2": "ни́ні",
        "t": "nowadays; today"
      },
      "expansion": "Ukrainian ни́ні (nýni, “nowadays; today”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ae",
        "2": "𐬥𐬏",
        "t": "currently, now"
      },
      "expansion": "Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “currently, now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bal",
        "2": "نون",
        "tr": "nún",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Baluchi نون (nún, “now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fa",
        "2": "اکنون",
        "tr": "aknun / aknūn"
      },
      "expansion": "Persian اکنون (aknun / aknūn)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "kmr",
        "2": "ana"
      },
      "expansion": "Northern Kurdish ana"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "os",
        "2": "ныр",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Ossetian ныр (nyr, “now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "hit",
        "2": "𒆠𒉡𒌦",
        "tr": "ki-nu-un",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Hittite 𒆠𒉡𒌦 (ki-nu-un, “now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xlu",
        "2": "𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦",
        "tr": "nānun",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Luwian 𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦 (nānun, “now”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xto",
        "2": "nuṃ",
        "t": "again, once more"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian A nuṃ (“again, once more”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "txb",
        "2": "nano",
        "t": "again, once more"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian B nano (“again, once more”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "नु",
        "t": "now"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit नु (nu, “now”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "nou",
      "nou#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "nū",
      "nu#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*nū",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/nū"
    ],
    [
      "*nu",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/nu"
    ],
    [
      "*nū",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/nū"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#English"
    ],
    [
      "noo",
      "noo#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "nou",
      "nou#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "now",
      "now#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "neow",
      "neow#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "now",
      "now#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "nowe",
      "nowe#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "nü",
      "nü#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "no",
      "no#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "nou",
      "nou#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#German"
    ],
    [
      "nun",
      "nun#German"
    ],
    [
      "noe",
      "noe#Limburgish"
    ],
    [
      "Nuu",
      "Nuu#Limburgish"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "nu#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "nų",
      "nų#Elfdalian"
    ],
    [
      "nú",
      "nú#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "núgv",
      "núgv#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "nú",
      "nú#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "núna",
      "núna#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "no#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "no",
      "no#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "nå",
      "nå#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "𐌽𐌿",
      "𐌽𐌿#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "nu",
      "nu#Gaulish"
    ],
    [
      "num",
      "num#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "νυν",
      "νυν#Greek"
    ],
    [
      "ni",
      "ni#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "tani",
      "tani#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "ни́не",
      "нине#Bulgarian"
    ],
    [
      "nyní",
      "nyní#Czech"
    ],
    [
      "ninie",
      "ninie#Old_Polish"
    ],
    [
      "но́не",
      "ноне#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "ны́не",
      "ныне#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "ни́ні",
      "нині#Ukrainian"
    ],
    [
      "𐬥𐬏",
      "𐬥𐬏#Avestan"
    ],
    [
      "نون",
      "نون#Baluchi"
    ],
    [
      "اکنون",
      "اکنون#Persian"
    ],
    [
      "کنون",
      "کنون#Persian"
    ],
    [
      "نون",
      "نون#Persian"
    ],
    [
      "ana",
      "ana#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "anaka",
      "anaka#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "anêka",
      "anêka#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "aniha",
      "aniha#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "anika",
      "anika#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "naga",
      "naga#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "naha",
      "naha#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "naka",
      "naka#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "niha",
      "niha#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "niho",
      "niho#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "nika",
      "nika#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "noke",
      "noke#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "ئانا",
      "ئانا#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "نکا",
      "نکا#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "ныр",
      "ныр#Ossetian"
    ],
    [
      "𒆠𒉡𒌦",
      "𒆠𒉡𒌦#Hittite"
    ],
    [
      "𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦",
      "𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦#Luwian"
    ],
    [
      "nuṃ",
      "nuṃ#Tocharian_A"
    ],
    [
      "nano",
      "nano#Tocharian_B"
    ],
    [
      "नु",
      "नु#Sanskrit"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Present; current.",
        "Fashionable; popular; up to date; current."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
        "informal"
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      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "At the present time.",
        "Used to introduce a point, a qualification of what has previously been said, a remonstration or a rebuke.",
        "Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times.",
        "At the time reached within a narration."
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    {
      "pos": "intj",
      "glosses": [
        "Indicates a signal to begin."
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 7406
    },
    {
      "pos": "conj",
      "glosses": [
        "Since, because, in light of the fact."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "often"
      ],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The present time.",
        "The state of not paying attention to the future or the past.",
        "A particular instant in time, as perceived at that instant."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually",
        "often",
        "countable"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

Misspelling of know.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

See know.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "know",
      "know#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "Misspelling of know."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "misspelling"
      ],
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for now →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

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Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-bm93