English

need

/niːd/
A requirement for something; something needed.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English need, nede, a merger of two terms:

    * Old English nīed (West Saxon), nēd (Mercian), nēad (“necessity, compulsion, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic *naudiz, from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂w- (“death”).

    * Old English nēod (“desire, longing”), from Proto-West Germanic *niudi (“desire, eagerness”), from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to incline, tend, move, push, nod, wave”).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English neden, from Old English nēodian.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishneed
      • inheritedOld Englishnīed “need, necessity”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*naudi
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*naudiz
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*neh₂w- “death”
      • inheritedOld Englishnēod “desire, longing”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*niudi “desire, eagerness”
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*new- “to incline, tend, move, push, nod, wave”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishneden
      • inheritedOld Englishnēodian

    Words built on it: needs

    Sources