nook

Meanings

Noun

• A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove.
• A hidden or secluded spot; a secluded retreat.
• A recess, cove or hollow.
• An English unit of land area, originally of a yardland but later or 20 acres.
• A corner of a piece of land; an angled piece of land, especially one extending into other land.

Verb

• To withdraw into a nook.
• To situate in a nook.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• See fardel ( nook), see acre (various fractions & for further subdivisions)

Broader meaning words

• See hundred (16,000 nooks); see carucate (16); see virgate (4); see oxgang (2)

Origin

• From Middle English noke, nok, of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots neuk, nuk. Perhaps from Old English hnoc, hnocc, from Proto-Germanic *hnukkaz, *hnukkô, from Proto-Indo-European *knewg- ("to turn, press"), from Proto-Indo-European *ken- ("to pinch, press, bend"). If so, then also related to Scots nok ("small hook"), Norwegian dialectal nok, nokke, Danish nok ("hook"), Swedish nock ("ridge"), Faroese nokki ("crook"), Icelandic hnokki ("hook"), Dutch nok ("ridge"), Low German Nocke ("tip"), Old Norse hnúka ("to bend, crouch"), Old English ġehnycned ("drawn, pinched, wrinkled").