- neigh (v.)
[neigh 词源字典] - Old English hnægan "to neigh," probably of imitative origin (compare Old Norse gneggja "to neigh," Middle High German negen, French hennir, Japanese inanaki). Related: Neighed; neighing. As a noun from 1510s.[neigh etymology, neigh origin, 英语词源]
- neighbor (n.)
- Old English neahgebur (West Saxon), nehebur (Anglian) "neighbor," from neah "near" (see nigh) + gebur "dweller," related to bur "dwelling" (see bower). Common Germanic compound (cognates: Old Saxon nabur, Middle Dutch naghebuur, Dutch (na)bur, Old High German nahgibur, Middle High German nachgebur, German Nachbar). Good neighbor policy attested by 1937, but good neighbor with reference to U.S. policy toward Latin America was used by 1928 by Herbert Hoover.
- neighbor (v.)
- 1580s, from neighbor (n.). Related: Neighbored; neighboring.
- neighborhood (n.)
- mid-15c., "neighborly conduct, friendliness," from neighbor (n.) + -hood. Modern sense of "community of people who live close together" is first recorded 1620s. Phrase in the neighborhood of meaning "near, somewhere about" is first recorded 1857, American English. The Old English word for "neighborhood" was neahdæl.
- neighborly (adj.)
- 1550s, from neighbor (n.) + -ly (1). Earlier as an adverb (1520s), while an earlier adjective form was neighborlike (late 15c.). Related: Neighborliness, which ousted earlier neighborship (mid-15c.).
- neighbour
- chiefly British English spelling of neighbor (q.v.); for spelling, see -or.
- neighbourhood
- chiefly British English spelling of neighborhood; for spelling, see -or.
- Neil
- surname and masc. proper name, from Gaelic/Old Irish Niall "champion." Picked up by the Vikings in Ireland (as Njall), brought by them to Iceland and Norway, thence to France, from which place it was introduced in England at the Conquest. Incorrectly Latinized as Nigellus on mistaken association with niger "black," hence Nigel.
- neither (conj.)
- Old English nawþer, contraction of nahwæþer, literally "not of two," from na "no" (see no) + hwæþer "which of two" (see whether). Spelling altered c. 1200 by association with either. Paired with nor from c. 1300; earlier with ne. Also used in Old English as a pronoun. As an adjective, mid-14c.
- nekton
- 1893, from German nekton (van Heusen, 1890), from Greek nekton, neuter of nektos "swimming," from nekhein "to swim" (see natatorium).
- Nelly
- fem. proper name, also Nellie, diminutive of Nell, a pet form of Ellen, Helen, or Eleanor. Meaning "weak-spirited person" is first attested 1961.
- nelson (n.)
- type of wrestling hold, 1875, apparently from a proper or surname, but no one now knows whose.
Presently, Stubbs, the more skilful as well as the more powerful of the twain, seizes the luckless Jumper in a terrible gripe, known to the initiated as the Full Nelson. ["Lancashire Recreations," in "Chambers's Journal," April 24, 1875]
- nem. con.
- abbreviation of Latin phrase nemine contradicente "no one dissenting," hence, "without opposition."
- nematocyst (n.)
- 1875, from nemato-, comb. form of Greek nema, nematos "thread" (genitive nematos), from stem of nein "to spin" (see needle (n.)) + cyst.
- Nematoda
- a class of worms, Modern Latin compound of nemat- "thread" (from Greek nema, genitive nematos "thread," from stem of nein "to spin;" see needle (n.)) + -odes "like, of the nature of" (see -oid).
- nematode (n.)
- 1865, from Modern Latin Nematoda, the class or phylum name.
- Nembutal
- type of barbiturate, 1930, proprietary name of pentobarbitone sodium, formed from letters and syllables from N(a) "sodium" + full chemical name 5-ethyl-5-1-methylbutyl barbiturate.
- Nemean (adj.)
- 1580s, "pertaining to Nemea," a wooded valley in Argolis, especially in reference to the lion there, said to have been killed by Herakles. The place name is from Greek nemos "grove."
- nemesis
- 1570s, Nemesis, "Greek goddess of vengeance, personification of divine wrath," from Greek nemesis "just indignation, righteous anger," literally "distribution" (of what is due), related to nemein "distribute, allot, apportion one's due," from PIE root *nem- "to divide, distribute, allot, to take" (cognates: Old English, Gothic niman "to take," German nehmen; see nimble). With a lower-case -n-, in the sense of "retributive justice," attested from 1590s. General sense of "anything by which it seems one must be defeated" is 20c.
- nemo (n.)
- Latin, literally "no man, no one, nobody."
