Meaning

noun a sign of assent or salutation or command

noun the act of nodding the head

verb express or signify by nodding

originFrom Middle English nodden, probably from an unrecorded Old English *hnodian (“to nod, shake the head”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnodōn, from Proto-Germanic *hnudōną (“to beat, rivet, pound, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *kendʰ-, from *ken- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Compare Old High German hnotōn (“to shake”), hnutten (“to shake, rattle, vibrate”) (> modern dialectal German notteln,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0