nod

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To move your head down and up to show agreement, greeting, or understanding.

   She nodded to show that she agreed with the plan.

2. 2
   verb

   To show or signal something by moving your head.

   He nodded his approval of the design.

3. 3
   verb

   To let your head drop forward because you are falling asleep.

   I started nodding off in front of the television.

Multiword verbs with nod

• nod off Phrasal verb B1

  to begin sleeping unintentionally, often while sitting

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Nod entered English in the late Middle English period and may have been borrowed from German, but its origin is uncertain.

From Middle English nodden, probably from an unrecorded Old English *hnodian (“to nod, shake the head”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnodōn, from Proto-Germanic *hnudōną (“to beat, rivet, pound, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *kendʰ-, from *ken- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Compare Old High German hnotōn (“to shake”), hnutten (“to shake, rattle, vibrate”) (> modern dialectal German notteln, nütteln (“to rock, move back and forth”)), Faroese njóða (“to clench a nail”), Icelandic hnjóða (“to rivet, clinch”), Faroese noða (“to double by bending”), Icelandic hnoða (“to clinch, rivet”).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary