Etymology: Old English walhhnutu strong feminine = West Frisian walnút (North Frisian walnödd from Danish), Middle Dutch walnote (Kilian walnot ), Dutch walnoot , Middle Low German wallnot , -nut , Low German (Bremisch. Wörterb. wallnutt ) walnut , German walnuss (earlier wallnuss ), Old Norse valhnot strong feminine (Norwegian valnot , Swedish valnöt , Danish valnød ). The first element is Germanic *walχo-z (Old English wealh , Old High German walah ) ‘Welshman’, i.e. Celtic or Roman foreigner; see Welsh adj.The solitary Old English example (in a glossary c1050) is the earliest known appearance of the word in any language. The word must, however, have come to England from the Continent, but there is no evidence to show whether it belonged to the primitive Old English vocabulary, or was introduced at a relatively late date. It seems to have belonged originally to the Low German-speaking district; etymologically it meant the nut of the Roman lands (Gaul and Italy) as distinguished from the native hazel. It is noteworthy that in the languages of these countries the word descending from Latin nux , when used without qualification, denotes the walnut. In High German the word appears first in the 16th cent. (adapted from Low German); but Middle High German had the equivalent wälhisch nuȥ (modern German dialect wälsche nuss , wälschnuss ): see walsh-nut n. The Old Northern French noix gauge, gaugue, walnut (which survives in modern Picard and Norman dialects) apparently represents a popular Latin *nux gallica, a translation of the Germanic word.

Etymology: Variant of wall-knot n., associated with walnut n.¹ 1.