niet

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -it

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /nit/

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch niwet, niet, from Old Dutch *niowiht, niewiht, from nio (“never”) + wiht (“thing, creature”). The former in turn derives from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”) + *aiw- (“ever”) + *wiht- (“thing”).

It was originally a pronoun meaning "not a thing", and was later used to reinforce a regular negation. The pronomial meaning was lost in Middle Dutch. English not, and its older forms naught and nought, were formed in the same way, but "not" also lost its sense as a pronoun and became a negation adverb as in Dutch.

Adverb

niet

1. Not, no: used to express negation.

   Niet storen!

   Do not disturb!

   Dat is niet waar.

   That is not true.

Antonyms

• wel

Derived terms

• niet eens
• nog niet

Etymology 2

Noun

niet f. (plural nieten, diminutive nietje)

1. A staple.

Verb

niet

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of nieten.
2. imperative of nieten.

Anagrams

• tien