Advertisement
Nessie
colloquial name of the "Loch Ness monster," by 1936; see loch.
Entries linking to Nessie
loch (n.)
late 14c., from Gaelic loch "lake, lake-like body," including the narrow, nearly land-locked arms of the sea found in the glacier-scoured landscape of west Scotland; cognate with Old Irish loch "body of water, lake," Breton lagen, Anglo-Irish lough, Latin lacus (see lake (n.1)). "The word was adopted in ONorthumbrian as luh" [OED]. The diminutive form is lochan.
The phrase Loch Ness monster is attested by 1934, the thing itself under slightly different names from 1933. The loch is named for the river Ness that flows out of it at Inverness; the river name is probably from an Old Celtic word meaning "roaring one."
Share Nessie
‘cite’
Page URL:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nessie
HTML Link:
<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nessie">Etymology of Nessie by etymonline</a>
APA style:
Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of Nessie. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nessie
Chicago style:
Harper Douglas, “Etymology of Nessie,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nessie.
MLA style:
Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of Nessie.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nessie. Accessed $(datetimeMla).
IEEE style:
D. Harper. “Etymology of Nessie.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nessie (accessed $(datetime)).
updated on June 24, 2019
Advertisement