nerve
See also: nervé
English
Etymology
Recorded since circa 1374, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew.
Pronunciation
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Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)v
Noun
nerve (plural nerves)
- A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.
- Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:nerve
- The nerves can be seen through the skin.
- (nonstandard, colloquial) A neuron.
- (botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.
- Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves.
- Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.
- He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited.
- He hasn't the nerve to tell her he likes her.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- “Oh?” she said. “So you have decided to revise my guest list for me? You have the nerve, the – the –” I saw she needed helping out. “Audacity,” I said, throwing her the line. “The audacity to dictate to me who I shall have in my house.” It should have been “whom”, but I let it go. “You have the –” “Crust.” “– the immortal rind,” she amended, and I had to admit it was stronger, “to tell me whom” – she got it right that time – “I may entertain at Brinkley Court and who” – wrong again – “I may not.”
- Synonyms: brashness, brazenness, balls; see also Thesaurus:courage
- 2013, Daniel Taylor, Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille (in The Guardian, 26 November 2013)[2]
- A trip to the whistling, fire-cracking Stadio San Paolo is always a test of nerve but Wenger's men have already outplayed the Italians once.
- 2021 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Hungary 0-4 England”, in BBC[3]:
- Southgate's side kept their nerve and discipline in the unsettling, intimidating surroundings of Budapest, with the behaviour of Hungary's fans leaving much to be desired, to turn up the heat and punish their opponents ruthlessly once they had gone ahead.
- Patience; stamina; endurance, fortitude.
- The web-team found git-sed is really a time and nerve saver when doing mass changes on your repositories
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, pages 42–43, lines 639–640:
- He led me on to mightiest deeds, / Above the nerve of mortal arm.
- (in the plural) One's neural structures considered collectively as, and conceptually equated with, one's psyche;
- All these rationalizations for asinine behavior are getting on my nerves.
- His nerves could no longer handle the worry.
- (in the plural) mental agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotions.
- 1997, Harvey Danger (lyrics and music), “Flagpole Sitta”, in Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?:
- Put me in the hospital for nerves and then they had to commit me
- Ellie had a bad case of nerves before the big test; she was a bundle of nerves.
- (polymer technology) The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.
- A nervy tank lining will be difficult to lay around tight bends or in corners because it tends to spring back.[1]
- 1959, Newell A Perry, Eric O Ridgway, US patent US2870103 A[4]
- The nerviness (ability to recover quickly from strain or stretching) ... generally requires it to be broken down or masticated on the mill before the other compounding ingredients are added. In the break-down operation, heat is inherently generated by the sheer action of the milling or mixing equipment on the polymer. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the desired low temperatures during the milling or mixing... An object of this invention is to reduce the inherent nerve of ... polymers ... during break-down.
- (obsolete) Sinew, tendon.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- Come on; obey: / Thy nerves are in their infancy again, / And have no vigour in them.
- Template:RQ:Pope Odyssey
Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun nerve
- bundle of nerves
- get on somebody's nerves/get on one's nerves
- nervation
- nerveless
- nervy
- nerve cell
- nerve center
- nerve ending
- nerve fiber, nerve fibre
- nerve gas
- nerve impulse
- nerve-racking
- nerves of steel
- nerve-wracking
- nervi-, nervo-
- sciatic nerve
- strain every nerve
- the nerve of
- touch a nerve
- unnerved
- war of nerves
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to "nerve"
Translations
bundle of neurons
|
(colloquial) neuron
(botany) vein; grain in wood
courage
|
patience
|
stamina
|
audacity
|
agitation caused by a negative emotion
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
nerve (third-person singular simple present nerves, present participle nerving, simple past and past participle nerved)
- (transitive) To give courage.
- 1926, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Land of Mist[5]:
- The yellow-bearded Mailey, the old warrior, scarred with many combats and eager for more, stood beside his wife, the gentle squire who bore his weapons and nerved his arm.
- May their example nerve us to face the enemy.
- 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman
- And how I strained my ears, and nerved my hands and limbs, beginning to twitch with convulsive movements, which I feared might betray me!
- (transitive) To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.
- The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march.
- 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 289:
- The shock nerved her, and she ran aimlessly till she fell, and for a time lay, but making a barrier of her arms, that the child should not be crushed.
Usage notes
- Sometimes used with “up”.
Synonyms
- (give strength): See also Thesaurus:strengthen
Translations
encourage — see encourage
strengthen — see strengthen
References
Anagrams
Dutch
Noun
nerve f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)
Anagrams
French
Verb
nerve
- inflection of nerver:
German
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Verb
nerve
- inflection of nerven:
Latin
Noun
(deprecated template usage) nerve
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron), and Latin nervus.
Noun
nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nerver, definite plural nervene)
Derived terms
References
“nerve” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron), and Latin nervus.
Noun
nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nervar, definite plural nervane)
Derived terms
References
- “nerve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)neh₁-
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- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)v
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- en:Neuroanatomy
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