naoi (Irish)
Where does "naoi" come from?
The Irish word 'naoi' for nine traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥. It evolved through Proto-Celtic *nowan before settling into Old Irish as 'noí,' eventually becoming the modern Irish 'naoi.' This journey highlights a linguistic connection shared with other Celtic languages like Welsh and Breton, all of which derive their word for nine from this same ancient root.
Full etymology tree
- naoi (Irish), 'nine'
- inherited noí (Old Irish), 'nine'
- inherited *nowan (Proto-Celtic), 'nine'
- inherited *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'nine'
- derived *néwos (Proto-Indo-European), 'new'
- derived *en (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *h₁enu- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'nine'
- inherited *nowan (Proto-Celtic), 'nine'
- inherited noí (Old Irish), 'nine'
Ancestors
- noí (Old Irish)
- *nowan (Proto-Celtic)
- *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- nav (Breton)
- nuy (Manx)
- naw (Welsh)
Descendants and derived words
- naonúr (Irish)
- naoú (Irish)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris