"N" Word Origins

niche market

French

From French niche, a recess in a wall, from nicher, to nest; the sense of a snug, well-suited position was extended to business in the twentieth century.

Nicholas

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Nikolaos, combining nike ("victory") and laos ("people") — literally "victory of the people".

nicholds

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

Nicholls

Origin

From a medieval form of Nicholas plus the patronymic ending -s.

Nichols

Origin

From Nichol, a medieval form of Nicholas, plus the patronymic ending -s.

Nicholson

Origin

From Nicholas plus -son ("son of"). It shares its roots with the surname Nielsen.

nick

Middle English

From Late Middle English nik ("notch"), origin otherwise unclear; the slang meanings for stealing, arresting, and police stations developed later in British English.

nickalls

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

nicked

Origin

From nick plus the past-tense ending -ed.

nickel

German

Borrowed from German Nickel, shortened from Kupfernickel ("copper-nickel", literally "copper goblin"), because the ore looked like it contained copper but yielded none — miners blamed a mischievous spirit named after Nikolaus (Nicholas).

nickells

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

Nickelodeon

Greek

From nickel (the five-cent coin) plus odeon (a Greek word for a theatre or concert hall).

Nickels

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

nicker

Origin

Imitative; from 1774.

Nicki

Origin

Clipping + -i (diminutive suffix).

Nickie

Origin

Variant of Nicky.

nickname

Middle English

From Middle English an ekename ("an additional name"), which was misheard and re-divided as "a nekename" — the same kind of slip that gave us "an apron" from "a napron".

nickolds

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

nickolls

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

nickols

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

Nicks

Origin

From a diminutive of the given name Nicholas + the patronymic suffix -s.

nickson

Origin

From Nick, diminutive of the given name Nicholas + -son.

Nicky

Origin

Diminutives + -y.

Nico

Origin

Variant of Nick + -o.

Nicodemus

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Nikodemos, combining nike ("victory") and demos ("people").

Nicola

Origin · 1900

A feminine form of Nicholas that came into common use in the 20th century.

Nicole

French

Borrowed from French Nicole, the feminine form of Nicolas (Nicholas).

nicolls

Origin

One of the variant spellings of Nichols, from Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas + the suffix -s.

nicotiana

Origin

Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Nicotiāna, from (Jean) Nicot (French ambassador to Portugal, who sent seeds back to France in 1561) + -iāna (adjective forming suffix) (feminine of -iānus).

nicotinamide

Origin

Blend of nicotine + amide, equivalent to nicotine + -amide.

nicotine

French · 1500

Named after Jean Nicot, the French diplomat who introduced tobacco to France in the 16th century after receiving seeds from Portugal.

nictation

Origin

From nictate.

niddering

Origin

A variant of nithing, resulting from the letter eth (ð) in Early Middle English niðing in the writings of the English historian William of Malmesbury (c. 1095 – c. 1143) being mistaken for a d followed by a mark of suspension representing a letter that had been omitted as an abbreviation. This led to niðing being wrongly spelled as nidering in early printed versions of his works. The word was later popularized by the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832).

nidge

Origin

Believed to be a variant of "nitch," related to "notch" — describing the small chipping strokes used to work the stone.

niece

Latin

From Old French nece, ultimately from Latin neptis ("granddaughter"). The Latin word originally covered granddaughters as well as nieces before the meanings split.

nief

Origin

From Old French [Term?], from Latin nativus (“natural”). Doublet of naif and native.

Nielsen

Norwegian

Borrowed from Danish and Norwegian Nielsen; it shares its roots with the English surname Nicholson.

Nietzsche

German

Borrowed from German Nietzsche.

Nietzschean

Origin

From the surname Nietzsche plus the adjective ending -ean.

nieve

Latin

Spanish nieve descends from Latin nix, accusative nivem, "snow", the same root behind English niveous and Spanish nevada.

Nieves

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Nieves.

niflheim

Origin

From Old Norse Niflheimr (literally “world of mist”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *nibilaz (“dark, misty”), from *nebulaz (“fog, mist, darkness”) + *haimaz (“home, house, village”).

nifty

Origin · 1860

Origin unclear — first recorded in American slang in the 1860s, possibly linked to theatrical slang or a regional word meaning "peeved."

Nige

Origin

Clipping of Nigel.

Nigel

Latin

From Latin "Nigellus," a diminutive of "niger" meaning "black," originally used to Latinize the Norman name Néel and the Irish name Neil.

Niger

Latin

The plant name is unrelated to the country; the crop's scientific epithet traces to its dark seed coat. The country name Niger has a disputed origin, often linked by folk etymology to the Latin word for "black," though older theories trace it through Tuareg and Berber phrases meaning something like "river of rivers."

Nigeria

Origin · 1897

Coined in 1897 by the British journalist Flora Shaw, who combined "Niger" (the river running through the region) with the suffix "-ia," used for naming countries.

Nigerian

Origin

Formed by adding the common nationality suffix "-an" to "Nigeria."