An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Naue

by Friedrich Kluge

Naue, feminine, ‘barque,’ from Middle High German nâwe, nœwe, feminine and masculine, ‘small ship,’ especially ‘ferryboat’; not primitively allied to Latin nâvis, but rather borrowed from it in the Middle High German period. The Teutonic cognate of Latin nâvis, Greek νηῦς, Sanscrit nãus, is Old Icelandic nór, ‘ship,’ of which we should have expected the corresponding Middle High German form *nuowe. It is certainly remarkable that the Teutonic primitively word corresponding to the Aryan terms adduced has been preserved only in Scandinavian.