I was looking up the Old Norse word nestbaggi (“bag for provisions”) and wondering about the etymon of nest (“provisions”). Is it the same as English nest (like, where birds live)?
I still don’t know; it looks doubtful. But apparently English nest is derived from PIE *sed– “sit”, and is cognate with sedentary, settle, ersatz, banshee, etc. (The ban– is from Gaelic bean “woman”, says the AHD, and is cognate with queen and the gyn– in gynecology etc.)
That nest should come from *sed– seemed crazy to me at first, but the ne– is actually a prefix meaning “down”, so nest is a place where you settle down, especially if you’re a bird.
The same combo yields niche , nick, and Latin nidus (“nest”). I mention nidus because Everything Is Better With Latin!™, but also because it’s the root of nidiculous (“nest-sharing; nesty”), a completely nidiculous word that everyone should use fifteen times a day.
