nowt
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (Northern England) IPA(key): /naʊt/, [naʊʔ]
- Rhymes: -aʊt
- (English Midlands) IPA(key): /nəʊt/, [nəʊʔ]
- Rhymes: -əʊt
- Homophone: note
Etymology 1 edit
Dialectal pronunciation of naught. Akin to West Frisian neat (“nothing”), German nichts (“nothing”).
Pronoun edit
nowt
- (Northern England) Naught, nothing.
- 2004, “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy”, in Mike Skinner (lyrics), A Grand Don’t Come For Free, performed by The Streets:
- Today I have achieved absolutely nowt / In just being out of the house, I've lost out
Synonyms edit
Noun edit
nowt (uncountable)
Derived terms edit
Adverb edit
nowt (not comparable)
Antonyms edit
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English nowte, noute, nawte, naute, borrowed from Old Norse naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą. Cognate with Old English nēat, English neat.
Alternative forms edit
- nolt (dialectal or obsolete)
Noun edit
nowt (plural nowts)
- (Scotland and Northern England) An ox.
- (Scotland and Northern England) A herd of cattle.
- (figurative, Scotland and Northern England) A dumb, crass, or clumsy person, or a person who is difficult or stubborn.
- 1929, James William Marriott, editor, The Best One-act Plays of 1931[1], G.G. Harrap, published 1932, page 162:
- A hunner guineas for the heid o' that nowt Renwick, and him no' sae very far awa' frae your very nose at this meenit.
References edit
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
- “nowt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [2]
- Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
- A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896, [3]
- Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[4]
Anagrams edit
Middle English edit
Pronoun edit
nowt
- Alternative form of nought
Adverb edit
nowt
- Alternative form of nought
Adjective edit
nowt
- Alternative form of nought
Noun edit
nowt
- Alternative form of nought
Scots edit
Etymology edit
From Old English nāwiht.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
nowt