Etymology
114 entries found.

nose (v.)

1570s, "perceive the smell of;" 1640s; "pry, search in a meddlesome way;" from nose (n.). Related: Nosed; nosing.

nose (n.)

Middle English nose, from Old English nosu "the nose of the human head, the special organ of breathing and smelling," from Proto-Germanic *nuso- (source also of Old Norse nös, Old Frisian nose, Dutch neus, Old High German nasa, German Nase), from PIE root *nas- "nose." Used of beaks or snouts of animals from mid-13c.; of any prominent or projecting part supposed to resemble a nose from late 14c. (nose cone in the space rocket sense is from 1949). Meaning "sense of smell" is from mid-14c. Meaning "odor, scent" is from 1894. In Middle English, to have one's spirit in one's nose was to "be impetuous or easily angered" (c. 1400). Kiv, It could bee no other then his owne manne, that had thrust his nose so farre out of ioynte. ["Barnabe Riche His Farewell to Military Profession," 1581] To pay through the nose "pay excessively" (1670s) seems to suggest bleeding. Many extended meanings are from the horse-racing sense of "length of a horse's nose," as a measure of distance between two finishers (1908). To turn up one's nose "show disdain, express scorn or contempt" is from 1818 (earlier hold up one's nose, 1570s); a similar notion is expressed in look down one's nose (1907). To say something is under (one's) nose "in plain view, directly in front of one" is from mid-15c. To be as plain as the nose on one's face "very easy to be seen or understood" is from 1590s.

nose job (n.)

"rhinoplasty," by 1948, from nose (n.) + job (n.).

nose-bag (n.)

"bag containing feed for a horse, fastened to its head by straps," 1796, from nose (n.) + bag (n.).

bottle-nose (n.)

1630s as a type of nose, 1660s as a type of porpoise, from bottle (n.) + nose (n.). Related: Bottle-nosed (1560s).

nose-bleed (n.)

also nosebleed, "a discharge of blood from the nose, epistaxis," 1839 (Webster), from nose (n.) + bleed (n.). Also a common name of the yarrow and watercress (15c., compare nasturtium).

blue-nose (n.)

"native or inhabitant of Nova Scotia," 1838, from blue (adj.1) + nose (n.). Perhaps from cold, but it is recorded in 1824 as a type of potato grown there.

nose-dive (n.)

"sudden large decrease," 1920, a figurative extension from the literal sense in airplane flying, "a sudden, rapid, nose-first descent," which is attested by 1912, from nose (n.) + dive (n.). As a verb from 1915. Related: Nose-dived.

nose-ring (n.)

"circular ornament worn in the septum of the nose," 1769 as something to ornament a person; 1778 as something to lead an animal by, from nose (n.) + ring (n.1). This ornament has been worn in the from very ancient times, and is still in use among the primitive peoples of the Levant and in India and parts of Africa. In the Levant it is commonly through one of the wings of the nose; but the fashion of passing it through the septum is still found in India. [Century Dictionary, 1895]

brown-nose (v.)

also brownnose, 1939, American English colloquial, said to be military slang originally, from brown (adj.) + nose (n.), "from the implication that servility is tantamount to having one's nose in the anus of the person from whom advancement is sought" [Webster, 1961, quoted in OED]. Related: Brown-noser (by 1945, early citations suggest military slang), brown-nosing (by 1950). British bumsucker "sycophant" is attested from 1877.
Next
Advertisement

Trending words

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper