The word was first recorded in English in 1572, from Latin. Robert Harrison, in his translation of Ludwig Lavater's Of Ghostes, used it to describe men who were exposed to strange occurrences.
Latin gave English the word directly, without passing through French. It was built from a prefix meaning 'toward', joined to a noun meaning 'injury, or harm'.
That Latin noun for injury traces to a Proto-Indo-European root, *nek-, meaning 'death'. The same root gave Latin its word for violent death, or murder.
INNOCENT and NECTAR share the same root, meaning 'death'. INNOCENT entered English in the fourteenth century, built from a prefix meaning 'not', joined to the shared root. NECTAR entered English in the 1550s, from Latin, and before Latin, Greek, perhaps a poetic compound meaning 'overcoming death', naming the drink of the gods.
In 1591 the word had also come to describe someone submissive, or obedient, to another's authority. In 1604 it also meant open to punishment or blame. By 1646 the word's meaning had reversed, describing someone who gives offence.
