new

before 900; Middle English newe (adj., adv., and noun), Old English nēowe, nīewe, nīwe (adj. and adv.); cognate with Dutch nieuw, German neu, Old Norse nȳr, Gothic niujis, Old Irish núe, Welsh newydd, Greek neîos; akin to Latin novus, OCS novŭ, Greek néos, Sanskrit navas

New, fresh, novel describe things that have not existed or have not been known or seen before. New refers to something recently made, grown, or built, or recently found, invented, or discovered: a new car; new techniques. Fresh refers to something that has retained its original properties, or has not been affected by use or the passage of time: fresh strawberries; fresh ideas. Novel refers to something new that has an unexpected, strange, or striking quality, generally pleasing: a novel experience.

Following the alveolar consonants [t] /t/, [d] /d/, and [n] /n/, two main types of pronunciation occur for the “long” vowel represented by the spellings u, ue, discontinuous u...e, and ew, as in student, due, nude, and new. In the North and North Midland U.S. [oo] /u/ immediately follows the alveolar consonant: [stood-nt] /ˈstud nt/, [doo] /du/, [nood] /nud/, and [noo] /nu/. In the South Midland and Southern U.S., pronunciations of the type [styood-nt] /ˈstyud nt/, [dyoo] /dyu/, [nyood] /nyud/, and [nyoo] /nyu/ predominate. Both these types are traceable to England, as well as some less common ones, for example, those in which the high front vowel [i] /ɪ/ substitutes for the [y] /y/. A belief that the [yoo] /yu/ pronunciations are more prestigious sometimes leads to hypercorrection, the insertion of the y sound where historically it does not belong, leading to such pronunciations as [nyoon] /nyun/ for noon. Currently in the United States, a [y] /y/ following [s] /s/, [z] /z/, [th] /θ/, and [l] /l/, as in sue [syoo] /syu/, resume [ri-zyoom] /rɪˈzyum/, enthusiasm [en-thyoo-see-az-uh m] /ɛnˈθyu siˌæz əm/, and illusion [ih-lyoo-zhuh n] /ɪˈlyu ʒən/, is used by some speakers, but is considered affected by others.