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Origin and history of nor

nor(conj.)

"and not," mid-13c., from ne (adv.) "no" + or (conj.), or else a contraction of Middle English nauther (see neither) and influenced in form by or. Generally correlative to neither or some other negative.

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to nor

neither(conj., adv.)

"not one or the other," Middle English neither, naither, nether, from Old English nawþer, contraction of nahwæþer, literally "not of two," from na "no" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + hwæþer "which of two" (see whether). Spelling altered c. 1200 by association with either. Paired with nor from c. 1300; earlier with ne. Meaning "not in any case, in no case, not at all" is from 1550s. Also used in late Old English as a pronoun. As an adjective, "not either," mid-14c.

or(conj.)

"either, else, otherwise, as an alternative or substitute," a phonetically reduced form (analogous to e'er from ever) of Middle English other, a conjunction joining two or more alternatives, from Old English oþþe "either, or."  

Oþþe was extended in early Middle English (and Old High German) with an -r ending, perhaps by analogy with other "choice between alternative" words (either, whether). The contraction changed the second term in an alternative expression such as either ... or, which is from a common construction in Old English, where both words originally were oþþe (compare nor). 

Midlands dialect had the condensed form or by mid-13c., and it was common in texts by c. 1300, especially in northern parts of England. The fuller form other for "or" continued in the South into 16c.

Tell us by what auctorite thou doest these thynges? Other who is he that gave the thys auctorite? [Luke xx, Tyndale, 1526]

In Middle English it also was confused or merged with outher, ouþer (pron.) "either one, either of two or more," from Old English æghwæðer, the source of either. This, too, probably was by association in such phrases of alternative condition as either ... or.

Germanic cognates of Old English oþþe include Old Frisian ieftha, Middle Dutch ofte, Old Norse eða, Old High German odar, German oder, Gothic aiþþau "or."

Or else "otherwise" is by c. 1300.

*ne-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "not."

It might form all or part of: a- (3) "not, without;" abnegate; ahimsa; an- (1) privative prefix; annihilate; annul; aught (n.2) "zero, nothing;" deny; hobnob; in- (1) "not, opposite of, without;" ixnay; naught; naughty; nay; nefarious; negate; neglect; negligee; negotiate; neither; nepenthe; nescience; nescient; neuter; never; nice; nihilism; nihility; nil; nill; nimiety; nix; no; non-; none; nonplus; nor; not; nothing; null; nullify; nulliparous; renegade; renege; un- (1) prefix of negation; willy-nilly.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit a-, an- "not;" Avestan na "not;" Greek a-, an-, ne- "not;" Latin in- "not," ne "that not;" Old Church Slavonic and Lithuanian ne "not;" Old Irish an-, ni, Cornish ny "not;" Gothic and Old English un- "not."

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