Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/275

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nirgend, nirgends, adv., ‘nowhere,’ from MidHG. niergen, niergent; see irgend.

nisteln, nisten, vb., ‘to build a nest, nestle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nistein, nisten, OHG. nisten; a verbal noun from Nest. Comp. AS. nistlian, E. to nestle, Du. nestelen.

Niß, f., ‘nit,’ from the equiv. MidHG. niȥ (ȥȥ), f., for hniȥ; corresponding to Du. neet, AS. hnitu, f., and the equiv. E. nit; Goth. *hnits is not recorded. According to the permutation of consonants Gr. κονίς, plur. κονίδες, ‘eggs of lice, bugs, fleas,’ &c., may be akin, if the words in both languages be based on knid. It has also been connected with Slav. gnida. Nuß is not allied.

nit, the same as nicht.

Nix, m., ‘nixey, water-fairy,’ from MidHG. (very rare) nickes, OHG. nihhus, n. and m., ‘crocodile’; comp. AS. nicor, ‘hippopotamus,’ E. nick, ‘water-sprite’ (Old Nick, applied to the devil), MidDu. nicker, ‘water-sprite,’ OIc. nykr (from *niqiza), ‘water-sprite in the form of a hippopotamus,’ also ‘hippopotamus.’ The OHG. and MidHG. sense ‘crocodile’ is easily associated with the other meanings of the cognates; the prim. signification may be ‘fabulous sea-monster.’ The word is probably based on a Teut. root niq from pre-Teut. nig (Sans. nij, Gr. νίπτω), ‘to wash oneself’; thus Nix would mean orig. ‘a sea-animal that delights in bathing, sea-spirit,’ while the masc. Nix, like AS. nicor, points to Goth. *niqiza, *nikuza-, the corresponding fem. Nixe, preserved only in HG., indicates Goth. *niqisi; OHG. nicchessa, MidHG. *nickese, *nixe, in waȥȥernixe, f., ‘female water-sprite,’ for which in MidHG. męrwîp and męrmeit are used.

Nobistrug, m., ‘underwold, hell,’ borrowed, like Krug, ‘tavern,’ the second part of the compound, in early ModHG. from LG. The first component is MidHG. abis, abyss, m., ‘abyss,’ whence with n prefixed (comp. Ital. nabisso, from the usual combination in abysso), the LG. form Nobisfrung, hence lit. ‘tavern in hell’

noch (1.), adv., from the equiv. MidHG. nock, OHG. noh, ‘still’; corresponding to OSax. noh, Du. nog, Goth. nauk, ‘still’; a compound of nu, ‘now,’ and h, equiv. to Lat. que, Gr. τε, Sans. ca, ‘and also’; therefore the orig. meaning is probably ‘also now,’ or ‘even, just now’; comp. nun, and

with regard to Goth. h-, equiv. to Lat. que, see noch (2).

noch (2.), conj., ‘nor,’ from MidHG. noch, OHG. noh, ‘nor, not even, and not even’; OHG. noh—nok, MidHG. noch-, noch, ‘neither—nor,’ also even in MidHG. wëder—noch. Corresponding to OSax. noh, Du. noch; in Goth. nih, ‘nor, not even,’ Goth. nih—nih, ‘neither—nor.’ Goth. nih is exactly equiv. to Lat. ne-que (with regard to Goth. ni, Lat. ne, see nicht). The particle -h, -uh, corresponding to Lat. que, Gr. τε, Sans. ca, ‘and,’ had a definite meaning in Goth.

Nock, n., ‘yard-arm,’ ModHG. only, borrowed, like other nautical terms, from LG.; comp. Du. nock,. ‘summit, point.’

None, f., ‘afternoon prayers,’ from MidHG. nône, OHG. nôna, f., ‘hora nôna, the ninth hour of the day’ (reckoned from six A.M.), also ‘the prayers said at that hour.’ The term was borrowed during the OHG. period from Lat. nôna (scil. hora; comp. Fr. none, Ital. nona); comp. also OSax. nôna, nôn, AS. nôn, E. noon (the difference in time is said to be due to the shifting of the canonical ‘nona’ to midday).

Nonne, f., ‘nun,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nunne, OHG. nunna, f.; corresponding to Du. non, MidLG. and AS. nunne, f., E. nun, adopted, like the previous word, in connection with monastic life, both in G. and E. about the beginning of the 9th cent., from Lat. nonna (Gr. νόννα), which passed also into Rom.; comp. Fr. nonne, nonnain, ‘nun,’ Ital. nonna, ‘grandmother,’ like Ital. nonno, ‘grandfather.’ The early history of the cognates is obscure; late Lat. nonna was an ‘expressíon of reverence’ (hence its meaning in Ital.).— Nonne, f., ‘gelded sow,’ is, like the corresponding words in MidHG. and Du., identical with Nonne, ‘nun,’ and was thus termed for sexual reasons.

Nord, m. (almost obsolete in the UpG. vernacular), ‘north,’ from MidHG. nort (gen. nordes), m. and n., OHG. nord, m.; corresponding terms are found in all the OTeut. languages (whence Ital. norte and Fr. nord), the names of the cardinal points being formed independently in Teut.; in this case the Aryan languages possess no common term. Comp. OSax. *north (recorded only as an adv. ‘northwards’), AS. norþ, m., E. north. Goth. *naúrþs, or rather *naúrþr (equiv. to OIc. norðr), is by chance not recorded. It has been con-