nook
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: no͝ok
ipa: /nʊk/
ipa: /nʉk/
enpr: no͞ok
ipa: /nuːk/
rhymes: -ʊk
homophone: Knook
homophone: (foot-goose merger) nuke
Forms: form: nooks
form: nuke
Etymology: From Middle English noke, nok (“nook, corner, angle”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old English hnoc, hnocc (“hook, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hnukkaz, *hnukkô (“a bend”), 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 (“hook, angle, bent object”), Danish nok (“hook”), Swedish nock (“ridge”), Faroese nokki (“crook”), Icelandic hnokki (“hook”), Dutch nok (“ridge”) or Dutch hoek (“corner”), Low German Nocke (“tip”), Old Norse hnúka (“to bend, crouch”), Old English ġehnycned (“drawn, pinched, wrinkled”). Also cognate with Scots neuk, nuk (“corner, angle of a square, angular object”).
Senses: examples: text: There was a small broom for sweeping ash kept in the nook between the fireplace bricks and the wall.
synonyms: alcove
ancona
recess
glosses: A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove.
examples: text: The back of the used book shop was one of her favorite nooks; she could read for hours and no one would bother her or pester her to buy.
text: All right. Well, uh, glad to be here in this cozy nook.
ref: 2022 March 11, Anna Ouyang Moench, “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design”, in Severance, season 1, episode 6, spoken by Mark S. (Adam Scott):
glosses: A hidden or secluded spot; a secluded retreat.
examples: text: Ar. Safely in harbour / Is the Kings ſhippe, in the deepe Nooke, where once / Thou calldſt me vp at midnight to fetch dewe / From the ſtill-vext Bermoothes, there ſhe's hid; [...]
ref: 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 3:
synonyms: niche
glosses: A recess, cove or hollow.
examples: text: You must note, that two Fardells of Land make a Nooke of Land, and two Nookes make halfe a Yard of Land.
ref: a. 1634, W. Noye, The Complete Lawyer, section 57:
text: Nook, an old legal term for 12+¹⁄₂ acres of land; still in use at Alston.
ref: 1903, English Dialectical Dictionary, volume IV, page 295:
text: They poured their wine by the aume or the fust, and cut their cloth by the goad—not to be confused with the gawd, which was a measure of steel. Their nook was not cosy; it covered 20 acres.
ref: 1968 November 9, The Economist, page 2:
synonyms: fardel
glosses: An English unit of land area, originally ¹⁄₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹⁄₂ or 20 acres.
examples: text: The ancient bounds of the cow paſture of Penrith, [...] and then from the ſaid Old Dyke end, alongſt Plumpton Dyke Eaſt over Petterel unto Plumpton park nuke, otherwiſe called Plumpton nuke; [...]
ref: 1777, Joseph Nicolson, Richard Burn, “[Appendix.] No. XXVIII. Penrith Boundary on the Side of Caterlen.”, in The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. … In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Printed for W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, pages 546–547:
text: The bounder beginneth at the east nuke of the Carter, and from thence extendeth eastward upon the height of the edge to Robscleugh Score, and from thence to Phillip's cross, so to the Spittopnuke, from thence to Greenlaw, so to the height of the Brown Hartlaw, and from thence along the high street to the nuke of the Blakelaw, and from thence to Hemmier's Well, where Ridsdale and Cookdale meet, all wᵉʰ is a bounder against Scotland.
ref: 1827, John Hodgson, “Morpeth Deanery”, in A History of Northumberland, in Three Parts, part II, volume I, Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed by Edw[ard] Walker, for J[ohn] B[owyer] Nichols, [et al.], →OCLC, footnote b, page 2:
glosses: A corner of a piece of land; an angled piece of land, especially one extending into other land.
examples: text: i NEEEEEEEED A NICE BIG HIGH8LOODED 8ULGE UP MY NOOK THIS SECOND!
ref: 2012 April 29, lucretiasgf (@furiosasgf), Twitter:
text: Vriska is too trashy to shave her nook.
ref: 2012 December 22, Harveh (@TemporalHipster), Twitter:
text: the vriska i roleplay specifically just has a nook because i like drawin vaginas.
ref: 2019 April 10, @jashindamnit, Twitter:
coordinate_terms: tentabulge
qualifier: Homestuck fandom slang
glosses: The vagina-like genitalia of a troll, featured in Homestuck fanworks but not in canon.
Hypernyms: sense: unit of area
word: hundred (16,000 nooks)
sense: unit of area
word: carucate
sense: unit of area; An English unit of land area, originally ¹⁄₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹⁄₂ or 20 acres.
word: virgate
sense: unit of area; A hidden or secluded spot; a secluded retreat.
word: oxgang
Hyponyms: sense: unit of area
word: fardel (1⁄2 nook)
sense: unit of area
english: various fractions & for further subdivisions
translation: various fractions & for further subdivisions
word: acre
Derived terms: any nook or cranny
any old nook or cranny
book nook
every nook and corner
every nook and cranny
every old nook and cranny
Heads Nook
ingle-nook
ingle nook
nook and corner
nook and cranny
nookery
nooklet
nooklike
nook or cranny
nook-shotten
nooky
Pocket Nook
reading nook
Related terms: inglenook