néwos (Proto-Indo-European)
Where does "néwos" come from?
The word traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root *néwos, which itself originated from *nu, meaning 'now.' By combining this concept of immediacy with the suffix *-os, the term came to describe something that has just arrived or come into existence. This ancient root serves as the direct ancestor of our modern English word 'new.'
Full etymology tree
- *néwos (Proto-Indo-European), 'new'
- derived *nu (Proto-Indo-European), 'now'
- compound *new- (Proto-Indo-European), 'new'
- compound *-os (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs.'
Ancestors
- *new- (Proto-Indo-European)
- *-os (Proto-Indo-European)
Descendants and derived words
- *néweh₂ti (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris