Almost every English word that opens with the letters N and U descends from Latin, nucleus and nurse among them. Those borrowings entered English through science and medicine, which is why so many words that start with Nu are technical rather than everyday. The handful you hear in ordinary speech are the ones to learn first.
Common Words That Start With Nu
- Number: A unit of quantity, order or position.
- Nurse: A trained professional who cares for patients in a hospital or clinic.
- Nurture: To support something while it grows, said of children and of talent.
- Nutrition: The supply of food a body needs to stay healthy.
- Nucleus: The control centre of a cell, or the core of an atom.
- Nuance: A small difference in meaning or tone that changes the whole.
- Nudge: A light push, or a gentle prompt toward a decision.
- Numb: Without feeling, whether in a limb or in the emotions.
- Nut: A hard shelled seed, or the metal piece a bolt screws into.
- Nun: A woman who has taken religious vows and lives in a community.
- Nuclear: Relating to the nucleus of an atom, and to the energy released from it.
- Nugget: A small lump of gold, or a compact portion of food.
- Nutmeg: A warm brown spice ground from the seed of a tropical tree.
- Nuisance: A person or situation that causes repeated annoyance.
- Numeral: A written symbol for a number, as in Roman numerals.
- Numerous: Existing in large quantity.
- Nursery: A room for young children, or a place where plants are raised.
- Nutrient: A substance a living thing takes in to grow and stay alive.
- Null: Having no legal force, or amounting to zero.
- Nude: Wearing no clothes.
- Nudist: Someone who practises going without clothes on principle.
- Nuzzle: To press gently with the nose, as a horse or a dog does.
- Nuptial: Relating to a wedding or a marriage.
- Nutshell: The hard casing of a nut, and the phrase for a compressed account.
- Nutty: Tasting of nuts, or eccentric in behaviour.
- Related: Words Starting With Letter N
Nu Is Not A Prefix: The Roots Behind Nu Words
No dictionary records a nu- prefix. What looks like one is five unrelated Latin stems that happen to share an opening, and a word’s meaning follows from which stem produced it.
| Latin stem | Words it produced | What connects them |
|---|---|---|
| Nux, a nut | Nuclear, Nucleus, Nuclide, Nucleon, Nuclein | The Latin for a nut gave English the word for a kernel, then the centre of a cell, then the core of an atom. |
| Nutrire, to nourish | Nutrient, Nutrition, Nurture, Nurse, Nursery | One stem produced both the feeding words and the caring words, since a nurse originally suckled a child. |
| Numerus, a number | Number, Numeral, Numerous, Numerator, Numeracy | Every counting word in the Nu set descends from this one root. |
| Nudus, bare | Nude, Nudist, Nudity, Denude | Latin nudus reached English through Old French, keeping its sense unchanged. |
| Nuntius, a messenger | Nuncio, Announce, Pronounce | Only nuncio kept the Nu opening; the rest took a prefix and lost it. |
Strip the first two letters off any of them and nothing usable remains, which is the quickest test that no prefix is present. Nuclear leaves a word only by accident of spelling, and number leaves nothing at all.
Words That Start With Nu By Length
Nu words run from a single two letter word to Nucleophilicity at fifteen, with nine of every ten between four and ten letters.
2 Letter Words That Start With Nu
The Greek alphabet supplies the only two letter entry, and nu itself takes two points as a legal Scrabble play.
| Nu |
3 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Six Nu words run to three letters. Nub, nun and nut belong to everyday English, while nug, nur and nus reach only the Scrabble board.
| Nub | Nug | Nun | Nur | Nus | Nut |
- Related: 3 Letter Words Starting With N
4 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Four letters brings the first Nu words a child reads. Nude, nuke, null, numb, nuns and nuts all arrive well before any of the Latin compounds.
| Nubs | Nude | Nuff | Nugs | Nuke |
| Null | Numb | Nuns | Nurd | Nurl |
| Nurr | Nurs | Nuts |
- Related: 4 Letter Words Starting With N
5 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Wordle players want this band. Nurse, Nudge, Nutty and Nudes are the four the puzzle accepts, and the rest are too rare to guess on.
| Nubby | Nubia | Nucha | Nuddy | Nudes |
| Nudge | Nudie | Nudzh | Nuked | Nukes |
| Nulla | Nulls | Numbs | Numen | Numps |
| Nuque | Nurds | Nurls | Nurrs | Nurse |
| Nutsy | Nutty |
- Related: 5 Letter Words Starting With N
6 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Nutmeg, nugget, number and nuzzle put six letter Nu words into ordinary kitchen and playground speech, which no longer band manages.
| Nubbin | Nubble | Nubbly | Nubian |
| Nubile | Nubuck | Nuchae | Nuchal |
| Nudely | Nudest | Nudged | Nudger |
| Nudges | Nudies | Nudism | Nudist |
| Nudity | Nudnik | Nugget | Nuking |
| Nullah | Nulled | Numbat | Numbed |
| Number | Numbly | Numdah | Numina |
| Numnah | Nuncio | Nuncle | Nurdle |
| Nurled | Nurser | Nurses | Nursle |
| Nutant | Nutate | Nutlet | Nutmeg |
| Nutria | Nutted | Nutter | Nuzzle |
- Related: 6 Letter Words Starting With N
7 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Nuclear opens the seven letter band and the whole physics vocabulary with it. Nucleus, nuclein, nuclide and nucleon follow from the same Latin nux.
| Nubbier | Nubbins | Nubbles | Nuchals |
| Nucleal | Nuclear | Nuclein | Nucleon |
| Nucleus | Nuclide | Nudgers | Nudgier |
| Nudists | Nudnick | Nudniks | Nudzhed |
| Nudzhes | Nuggets | Nuggety | Nullahs |
| Nulling | Nullity | Numbats | Numbers |
| Numbest | Numbing | Numeral | Numeric |
| Nunnery | Nunnish | Nuptial | Nurdled |
| Nurdles | Nurling | Nursers | Nursery |
| Nursing | Nurture | Nutcase | Nutgall |
| Nutlets | Nutlike | Nutmeat | Nutmegs |
| Nutpick | Nutrias | Nutsier | Nutters |
| Nuttier | Nuttily | Nutwood | Nuzzled |
| Nuzzler | Nuzzles |
- Related: 7 Letter Words Starting With N
8 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Eight letters divides between two stems. Nutrire gives Nutrient, Nutmeats and Nuthatch, while numerus gives Numerate, Numerals and Numeracy.
| Nubbiest | Nubecula | Nubilose | Nucellar |
| Nucellus | Nuclease | Nucleate | Nucleoid |
| Nucleole | Nucleoli | Nucleons | Nuclides |
| Nudeness | Nudities | Nudnicks | Nuisance |
| Numbfish | Numbness | Numeracy | Numerals |
| Numerary | Numerate | Numerics | Numerous |
| Numinous | Nummular | Nuncheon | Nunhoods |
| Nuptials | Nursling | Nurtured | Nurturer |
| Nurtures | Nutation | Nutgalls | Nuthatch |
| Nuthouse | Nutmeats | Nutpicks | Nutrient |
| Nutsedge | Nutshell | Nuttiest | Nuzzling |
9 Letter Words That Start With Nu
The peak comes at nine letters, and 68 Nu words reach that length. Nucleolus, Nutriment, Numerator and Nurseries are four of them.
| Nubbiness | Nubbliest | Nubeculae | Nucleases |
| Nucleated | Nucleates | Nucleator | Nucleides |
| Nucleinic | Nucleoids | Nucleolar | Nucleoles |
| Nucleolus | Nucleonic | Nucleuses | Nuggetier |
| Nuggeting | Nuggetted | Nuisancer | Nuisances |
| Nullified | Nullifier | Nullifies | Nullipara |
| Nullipore | Numberers | Numbering | Numbheads |
| Numbingly | Numbskull | Numchucks | Numerable |
| Numerably | Numeraire | Numerally | Numerated |
| Numerates | Numerator | Numerical | Nummulary |
| Nummuline | Nummulite | Numskulls | Nunataker |
| Nunchakus | Nuncheons | Nunchucks | Nuncupate |
| Nuptially | Nurselike | Nursemaid | Nurseries |
| Nurturers | Nurturing | Nutations | Nutbutter |
| Nuthouses | Nutjobber | Nutloaves | Nutmegged |
| Nutpecker | Nutrified | Nutrifies | Nutriment |
| Nutritive | Nutsedges | Nutshells | Nuttiness |
10 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Ten letter Nu words come from laboratory and clinical writing. Nucleotide, Nucleosome and Nucleophile all name structures a biologist works with daily.
| Nucleating | Nucleation | Nucleonics |
| Nucleoside | Nucleosome | Nucleotide |
| Nudibranch | Nullifiers | Nullifying |
| Numberless | Numbfishes | Numerating |
| Numeration | Numerators | Numinously |
| Nummulites | Nunciature | Nurturance |
| Nutcracker | Nutriments | Nutritions |
| Nutritious |
- Related: 10 Letter Words
11 Letter Words That Start With Nu
By eleven letters the everyday vocabulary has run out, leaving Numismatics and Nurserymaid as the two a general reader recognises without a dictionary.
| Nucleations | Nucleophile | Nucleoplasm |
| Nucleosides | Nucleosomes | Nucleotides |
| Nudibranchs | Numberplate | Numismatics |
| Numismatist | Nunciatures | Nuncupative |
| Nurserymaid | Nutcrackers | Nutritional |
12 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Twelve letter Nu words are built rather than borrowed, each one a shorter stem with two or more endings added. Nutritionist and Nucleoplasms both grew that way.
| Nuclearising | Nuclearizing | Nucleocapsid |
| Nucleophiles | Nucleophilic | Nucleoplasms |
| Nucleotidase | Nullifidians | Numberlessly |
| Numberplates | Numerability | Numerologies |
| Numerologist | Numismatists | Nummulations |
| Nuncupations | Nursemaiding | Nurserymaids |
| Nutritionary | Nutritionist | Nutritiously |
- Related: Long Words That Start With N
13 Letter Words That Start With Nu
Chemistry supplies most of the thirteen letter band. Nucleoprotein, Nutraceutical and Numismatology are the three a general reader has any chance of reading.
| Nuclearpowers | Nucleocapsids | Nucleonically |
| Nucleoplasmic | Nucleoprotein | Nullification |
| Numerological | Numismatology | Nutraceutical |
| Nutrigenomics |
Long Words That Start With Nu
Past thirteen letters every Nu word comes from chemistry or coin collecting, and each one stacks two or more endings onto a shorter stem.
- Nuclearisation (14 letters)
- Nuclearization (14 letters)
- Nucleoproteins (14 letters)
- Nudibranchiate (14 letters)
- Nugatorinesses (14 letters)
- Nullifications (14 letters)
- Numberlessness (14 letters)
- Numerabilities (14 letters)
- Numerousnesses (14 letters)
- Numinousnesses (14 letters)
- Numismatically (14 letters)
- Nutraceuticals (14 letters)
- Nutritionalist (14 letters)
- Nutritiousness (14 letters)
- Nuclearisations (15 letters)
- Nuclearizations (15 letters)
- Nucleophilicity (15 letters)
- Nucleoplasmatic (15 letters)
- Nucleosyntheses (15 letters)
- Nucleosynthesis (15 letters)
- Nucleosynthetic (15 letters)
- Nudibranchiates (15 letters)
- Numismatologies (15 letters)
- Numismatologist (15 letters)
- Nutritionalists (15 letters)
- Related: 20 Letter Words
Words That Start With Nu And End With E
Sixty Nu words close on E, more than on any other letter, and most Nu verbs take that ending in their base form.
| Nubble | Nubeculae | Nubile | Nubilose |
| Nuchae | Nuclease | Nucleate | Nucleole |
| Nucleoside | Nucleosome | Nucleotide | Nuclide |
| Nude | Nudge | Nudie | Nuisance |
| Nuke | Nullipore | Numerable | Numeraire |
| Numerate | Nummuline | Nummulite | Nunciature |
| Nuncle | Nuncupate | Nuque | Nurdle |
| Nurse | Nurselike | Nursle | Nurturance |
| Nurture | Nutate | Nutcase | Nuthouse |
| Nutlike | Nutritive | Nutsedge | Nuzzle |
Positive Words That Start With Nu
Nu is short on compliments. These nine are the whole set, and four of them descend from nutrire, the stem for nourishing.
- Nurturing: Caring for someone patiently while they develop.
- Nutritious: Full of what a body needs to stay well.
- Numinous: Filled with a sense of the sacred.
- Nuanced: Alert to small differences that a blunter view would miss.
- Nubile: Youthful and marriageable, in older usage.
- Nutty: Warmly eccentric rather than troubling.
- Numerate: Confident with numbers, the counting equivalent of literate.
- Nurtured: Raised with steady care.
- Nuptial: Belonging to a wedding, and to the celebration around it.
Related:
- Positive Words That Start With N
- Nice Words That Start With N
- Good Words That Start With N
- Encouraging Words That Start With N
Descriptive Words That Start With Nu
| Nuclear | Nubile | Nubby | Nuanced |
| Nudged | Numb | Numeral | Numerate |
| Numeric | Numerous | Numinous | Nummular |
| Nuptial | Nurturing | Nutant | Nutritious |
| Nutty | Nuggety | Nuchal | Null |
- Related: Descriptive Words That Start With N
Nouns That Start With Nu
| Nub | Nucleus | Nudge | Nugget |
| Nuisance | Number | Numeral | Numerator |
| Nun | Nunnery | Nuptials | Nurse |
| Nursery | Nurture | Nut | Nutcracker |
| Nuthatch | Nutmeg | Nutrient | Nutriment |
| Nutshell | Nuzzle | Nucleon | Nuclide |
| Nullity |
- Related: Math Words That Start With N
Verbs That Start With Nu
Every verb here takes a direct object straight after it, with no preposition in between.
- Nudge: To push lightly, or to prompt a decision without forcing it.
- Nullify: To cancel the legal force of something.
- Numb: To take feeling away from a part of the body.
- Number: To assign a figure to each item in a sequence.
- Nurse: To care for someone who is ill.
- Nurture: To feed and protect something while it grows.
- Nuzzle: To press the nose gently against someone.
- Nutate: To nod, or to sway slowly on an axis.
- Related: Verb Words That Start With N
Science Words That Start With Nu
Two thirds of the Nu vocabulary comes from the laboratory, and almost all of it descends from nux.
- Nucleus: The membrane bound centre of a cell holding its DNA.
- Nucleic acid: The molecule class covering DNA and RNA.
- Nucleotide: A single building block of a DNA or RNA chain.
- Nucleosome: DNA wound around a core of proteins inside a cell nucleus.
- Nucleon: A proton or a neutron, the particles inside an atomic nucleus.
- Nuclide: An atomic species defined by its proton and neutron count.
- Nuclease: An enzyme that cuts nucleic acid.
- Nucleophile: A molecule that donates electrons to form a chemical bond.
- Nuclear fission: The splitting of a heavy nucleus, releasing energy.
- Nutrient cycle: The movement of an element through living matter and back to soil.
- Nutation: A small nodding movement of a rotating body such as Earth.
- Nucleation: The first forming of a crystal or a bubble in a liquid.
- Related: Science Words That Start With N
Words That Start With Nu With Meanings
Fifty Nu words from the reading vocabulary rather than the speaking one. A reader encounters them in print and rarely says any of them aloud.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Nub | The core of an argument, or a small lump. |
| Nubbin | A small or stunted piece of something. |
| Nubile | Of an age suitable for marriage, in older usage. |
| Nubuck | Leather buffed to a soft velvety surface. |
| Nucha | The nape of the neck, in anatomy. |
| Nuchal | Relating to the nape of the neck. |
| Nudge | A light push, or a policy that steers a choice without forcing it. |
| Nudnik | A persistent bore, borrowed from Yiddish. |
| Nugatory | Of no value, and having no legal effect. |
| Nugget | A small rounded lump, especially of gold. |
| Nullah | A dry watercourse or ravine, chiefly in South Asia. |
| Nullify | To make something legally void. |
| Nullipara | A woman who has never given birth. |
| Numbat | A striped Australian marsupial that eats termites. |
| Numen | A local divine presence, in Roman religion. |
| Numeracy | Competence with numbers and everyday mathematics. |
| Numeraire | The unit a set of prices is measured against, in economics. |
| Numerator | The figure above the line in a fraction. |
| Numinous | Suggesting the presence of something sacred. |
| Nummular | Shaped like a coin, said of skin lesions. |
| Nummulite | A large disc shaped fossil foraminifer. |
| Nuncheon | A light midday meal, in older English. |
| Nuncio | A papal ambassador to a foreign government. |
| Nuncupative | Spoken rather than written, said of a will. |
| Nunatak | A rock peak standing above an ice sheet. |
| Nunnery | A convent where nuns live. |
| Nuptial | Relating to a wedding. |
| Nurdle | The blob of toothpaste on a brush, and a plastic pellet. |
| Nurl | To knurl, or to cut a ridged pattern into metal. |
| Nurseling | A child or animal still being fed by its mother. |
| Nurturance | Care given to something growing. |
| Nutant | Drooping or nodding, said of a plant. |
| Nutate | To nod, or to sway on an axis. |
| Nuthatch | A small bird that climbs down tree trunks head first. |
| Nutlet | A small nut, or a hard fruit stone. |
| Nutmeat | The edible kernel inside a nutshell. |
| Nutria | A large South American water rodent, also called coypu. |
| Nutriment | Anything that nourishes. |
| Nutritionist | A specialist in diet and its effect on health. |
| Nutsedge | A grasslike weed with edible tubers. |
| Numismatics | The study and collecting of coins and medals. |
| Numismatist | Someone who studies or collects coins. |
| Numerology | The belief that numbers carry hidden meaning. |
| Numdah | An embroidered felt rug from Kashmir. |
| Nuncle | An uncle, in archaic and dialect English. |
| Nuraghe | A prehistoric stone tower found across Sardinia. |
| Nutgall | A hard swelling on an oak, once used to make ink. |
| Nutpick | A thin tool for extracting nut kernels. |
| Nutwood | The timber of a nut bearing tree. |
| Nuzzler | One that nuzzles. |
Nu Words For Scrabble
Z carries the Nu rack almost single handed. Every one of the top four scorers is a form of nuzzle, and each figure is tile value before a premium square multiplies it.
| Word | Scrabble points |
|---|---|
| Nuzzling | 27 |
| Nuzzled | 26 |
| Nuzzler | 25 |
| Nuzzles | 25 |
| Nudzhed | 21 |
| Nudzhes | 20 |
| Nuzzle | 24 |
| Numchucks | 22 |
| Nunchucks | 20 |
| Nutpick | 15 |
| Nubucks | 15 |
| Nudnick | 14 |
| Nummary | 14 |
| Nullify | 13 |
| Numbskull | 17 |
| Numbheads | 17 |
| Numbingly | 17 |
| Nutpecker | 17 |
| Nunchakus | 18 |
| Numskulls | 15 |
How Many Words Start With Nu
There are 345 words that start with Nu, running from two letters to fifteen. Count every plural, past tense and technical compound as well and the figure reaches around 1,449.
Nu stays small because no prefix feeds it. Non- alone produces 653 No words, while Nu grows one stem at a time from five Latin roots.
Related:
- Words That Start With Na
- Words That Start With No
- Words That Start With Un
- Words That Start With Bi
- Words That Start With Ma
- Words That Start With La
- Words That Start With Te
- Words That Start With Rh
FAQs
The ones you will recognise straight away are number, nurse, nurture, nutrition, nucleus, nuance, nudge, numb, nut and nun. Around fifteen more occur in ordinary reading, among them nutmeg, nugget, nuisance and nursery.
No, and most word lists get this wrong. Five separate Latin stems share the opening, and nuclear, nutrient, number, nude and nuncio each descend from a different one.
Almost all of them trace to Latin. Nux produced the nuclear family, nutrire the nutrition and nursing words, numerus the counting words, nudus the nudity words, and nuntius gave nuncio.
Nucleus, nucleotide, nucleon, nuclide, nuclease and nucleophile all come from chemistry and biology. Nutation is an astronomy term, and nucleation a physics and materials one.
There are 345, running from two letters to fifteen. That figure climbs to around 1,449 once every plural, past tense and technical compound is counted.
Nuzzling scores 27 points on tile value alone. Nuzzled follows at 26 and Nuzzler at 25, and all three double or triple on a premium square.
