Originally meant “young girl, young prostitute” in the dialect of Berlin. Further origin unsettled. Possibly from Middle Low German not, nōte (“nut”) in the sense of “vulva, vagina” (compare German Nuss, which has this sense in hunter's jargon); or from Nut (“furrow”), also in the aforementioned sense, but less probably, since this word is not Low German. An alternative hypothesis considers it a variation of Lütte (“little one”) from Middle Low German lüttel (“small”), possibly through a merger with Hebrew נִדָּה (niddā, “menstruating woman”), but the vocalism -u- does not really agree with this. Finally, since the connection with prostitution is apparently very old, a relation with Middle Low German nütte (“useful, profitable”) might be considered.