An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Nonne

by Friedrich Kluge

Nonne, f., ‘nun,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nunne, OHG. nunna, f.; corresponding to Du. non, MidLG. and AS. nunne, f., E. nun, adopted, like the previous word, in connection with monastic life, both in G. and E. about the beginning of the 9th cent., from Lat. nonna (Gr. νόννα), which passed also into Rom.; comp. Fr. nonne, nonnain, ‘nun,’ Ital. nonna, ‘grandmother,’ like Ital. nonno, ‘grandfather.’ The early history of the cognates is obscure; late Lat. nonna was an ‘expressíon of reverence’ (hence its meaning in Ital.).— Nonne, f., ‘gelded sow,’ is, like the corresponding words in MidHG. and Du., identical with Nonne, ‘nun,’ and was thus termed for sexual reasons.