English word origin

Etymology of nowt

Dialectal pronunciation of naught. Akin to West Frisian neat (“nothing”), German nichts (“nothing”).

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 ↗

pron

Naught, nothing.

adv

Naught, nothing.

noun

Naught, nothing. · A person of no importance; a worthless person; a ne'er-do-well.

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

Dialectal pronunciation of naught. Akin to West Frisian neat (“nothing”), German nichts (“nothing”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Cognate mentionneatfy · nothing
Cognate mentionnichtsde · nothing

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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        "1": "fy",
        "2": "neat",
        "t": "nothing"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian neat (“nothing”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "nichts",
        "t": "nothing"
      },
      "expansion": "German nichts (“nothing”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "naught",
      "naught#English"
    ],
    [
      "neat",
      "neat#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "nichts",
      "nichts#German"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "pron",
      "glosses": [
        "Naught, nothing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-England"
      ],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "Naught, nothing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-England",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
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    },
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      "pos": "noun",
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        "Naught, nothing.",
        "A person of no importance; a worthless person; a ne'er-do-well."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "uncountable",
        "Yorkshire"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

An ox. · A herd of cattle. · A dumb, crass, or clumsy person, or a person who is difficult or stubborn.

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

From Middle English nowte, noute, nawte, naute, borrowed from Old Norse naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą. Cognate with Old English nēat, English neat.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentionnowteenm
Derivation mentionnautnon
Derivation mention*nautągem-pro
Cognate mentionnēatang
Cognate mentionneaten

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "nowte"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English nowte"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "naut"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse naut"
    },
    {
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      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *nautą"
    },
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    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "neat"
      },
      "expansion": "English neat"
    }
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    ],
    [
      "noute",
      "noute#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "nawte",
      "nawte#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "naute",
      "naute#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "naut",
      "naut#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "*nautą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/nautą"
    ],
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      "nēat",
      "neat#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "neat",
      "neat#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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        "A herd of cattle.",
        "A dumb, crass, or clumsy person, or a person who is difficult or stubborn."
      ],
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        "Scotland",
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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 nowt →

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.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bm93dA