Nunnatorn (0)

Nun’s Tower. Name first recorded 1738 but, built 1311-20, also known at one stage as de nie torn. Nie has an intriguing history. In MLG, it basically meant ‘new’, so New Tower? It was once, so why not? But it is also what linguists call a ‘babbling’ or ‘nursery’ word for a variety of care-givers: Welsh nain, grandmother, Persian nana, mother, Greek νάννα (nanna), female cousin or aunt, and Russian няня (njanja), nanny, nurse or babysitter, and even Sorbian nan, father. But this also gave Latin nunnus and nunna, monk and nun. So although it is possible for it to have meant ‘nun’, it may well be just a fortuitous coincidence. See also Paks Margareeta.