neh₁-
“to spin, to sew with a needle”needle/spin
PIE root meaning to spin or sew with a needle. Source of English "needle," Latin nēre, and words for thread-spinning.
Discussion
*neh₁- is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to spin" or "to sew with a needle," belonging to the semantic domain of textile production and tool use.
The root gives Latin nēre "to spin" (whence Italian nere), and Old English nǣdl "needle" (modern English needle), from a suffixed form *neh₁-tlā-. The Germanic reflex shows the characteristic First Sound Shift (Grimm's Law) does not affect the initial nasal. In Greek, the root appears as nēn "to spin," nêma "thread." Sanskrit nah- "to bind, to tie" may reflect a semantic extension from spinning to binding.
The laryngeal *h₁ is evidenced by the long vowel in Latin nēre and Greek nēn. The root belongs to a cluster of PIE textile vocabulary that includes *sneh₁- "to spin thread" (with s-mobile) and *(s)neh₁- forms.
Modern descendants include English needle, German Nadel, Dutch naald, and the learned borrowing nerve (via Latin nervus, though this derivation is disputed).
Notes
Source of Latin "nēre" (to spin), English "needle". Zero-grade *n̥h₁-.