köken: Doublet of Sprosse (“rung, sprout”), which see. Middle High German sprozze was a weak masculine. The apocopated form adopted strong declension, while the fuller form became feminine. The semantic distinction between both was introduced and advocated by the grammarian Gottsched (18th c.). It remains vague, however, except insofar as the masculine form is no longer possible in the sense of “rung”.
köken: From Proto-Southwestern Tai *ʰnɔːᴮ¹, from Proto-Tai *ʰnoːᴮ. Cognate with Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᨶᩬᩴ᩵, Khün ᩉ᩠ᨶᩳ᩵, Lao ໜໍ່ (nǭ), Lü ᦐᦸᧈ (ṅoa¹), Tai Dam ꪘꪷ꪿, Tai Dón ꪘꪮꫀ, Shan ၼေႃႇ (nàu), Tai Nüa ᥘᥨᥝᥱ (lǒw) or ᥢᥨᥝᥱ (nǒw), Phake ꩫ︀ေ︀ႃ (nō), Ahom 𑜃𑜦𑜡 (nō), Zhuang noq.