nee

See also née

English

WOTD - 15 December 2011    

Etymology 1

French née, feminine of né, past participle of naître, to be born.

Alternative forms

• née

Pronunciation

• IPA: /niː/, also IPA: /neɪ/
• Homophones: knee, nay, neigh

Adjective

nee (not comparable)

1. Used when giving the maiden name of a woman.

   Mrs Smith, nee Jones

2. Used when giving a former name. Originally known as.

   Since the name change, Butch (nee Frances) seems more tough and self-assured.

Usage notes

• As it is not a naturalised word in English, nee is often italicised.
• When used for a man, the masculine form né should be used.

Translations

used to indicate maiden name of a woman

Czech: rozená (cs) f. Finnish: omaa sukua (fi), o.s. (fi); syntyään (fi), syntyjään (fi), synt. (fi) French: née (fr) f. German: geborene (de) f., geb. (de) Hungarian: született (hu)

Japanese: 旧姓 (ja) (kyūsei) Russian: урождённая (ru) (uroždjónnaja) f., в девичестве (ru) (v devíčestve) Slovene: rojena (sl) f., roj. (sl) Spanish: de soltera (es)

used to indicate a former name

Finnish: entinen (fi), syntyään (fi)

Etymology 2

From Old English ne or na (“no”). Cognate with Standard English no.

Interjection

nee

1. (Geordie) no, used to express no as a quantity, i.e. not any, like German kein/Dutch geen/French rien. Compare with na.

   Nee way man! (No way)

   Thor's nee watter! (There's no water)

• [2004], Griffiths, Bill, A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Northumbria University Press, ISBN 1-904794-16-5, page 121:

Anagrams

• een , e'en
• ENE

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Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA: /neː/

Adverb

nee

1. no

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch neen, nee, from Old Dutch *nēn ("none, not one"), from *ne ēn, from Proto-Germanic *ne + *ainaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /neː/, /neɪ/

• audio

  (file)

Adverb

nee

1. no

Usage notes

• Nee is used to show disagreement or negation.

  Nee, je vergist je.: No, you are mistaken.

  Nee, je mag nu geen televisie kijken: No, you may not watch television now.

• Nee has a formal form, neen, which is archaic in spoken language, but quite common in written language.

Anagrams

• een, één, ene

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Low German

Alternative forms

• ‎ne‎, ‎neh‎, ‎nej‎

Adverb

nee

1. no

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Luxembourgish

Adverb

nee

1. Alternative form of neen.