nesh

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nɛʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɛʃ

Etymology 1

From Middle English nesh, nesch, nesche, from Old English hnesce, hnysce, hnæsce (“soft, tender, mild; weak, delicate; slack, negligent; effeminate, wanton”), from Proto-Germanic *hnaskijaz, *hnaskuz, *hnaskwuz (“soft, tender”), from Proto-Indo-European *knēs-, *kenes- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Cognate with Scots nesch, nesh (“soft, tender, yielding easily to pressure, sensitive”), Dutch nesch, nes (“wet, moist”), Gothic 𐌷𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌵𐌿𐍃 (hnaskwus, “soft, tender, delicate”). Compare also nask, nasky, nasty.

Alternative forms

• nish (Newfoundland English)

Adjective

nesh (comparative nesher, superlative neshest)

1. (now UK dialectal) Soft; tender; yielding.
   • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XIII:

     Therefore thou arte more harder than ony stone, and woldyst never be made neyssh nother by watir nother by fyre [...].

2. (now UK dialectal) Delicate; weak; poor-spirited; susceptible to cold weather, harsh conditions etc.
   • 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, Chapter 4

     And if he keeps the daughter so long at boarding-school, he'll make her as nesh as her mother was.

   • 1913, DH Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Chapter 8

     No, tha'd drop down stiff, as dead as a door-knob, wi' thy nesh sides.

3. (now UK dialectal) Soft; friable; crumbly.

Usage notes

• This is a fairly widespread dialect term throughout Northern England and the Midlands.

Derived terms

• neshen
• neshness

Translations

delicate, weak, poor-spirited, susc. to cold

• Russian: нежный (ru) (néžnyj) m

Etymology 2

From Middle English neschen, from Old English hnescan, hnescian (“to make soft, soften; become soft, give way, waver”), from Proto-Germanic *hnaskōnan, *hnaskēnan (“to make soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *knēs-, *kenes- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Cognate with Old High German nascōn ("to nibble at, parasitise, squander"; > German naschen (“to nibble, pinch”)).

Verb

nesh (third-person singular simple present neshes, present participle neshing, simple past and past participle neshed)

1. (transitive) To make soft, tender, or weak.

Anagrams

• hens