níðingr
Old Norse
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Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]By surface analysis, níð + -ingr. Earliest record from the 11th century, in the form of the runic genitive inflection ᚾᛁᚦᛁᚴᛋ (niþiks /niðiŋs, nid͡hin͡gs/). Cognate of English nithing, among more.
Noun
[edit]níðingr n
- (vulgar, derogatory, offensive) shameful dishonorable coward (nithing)
- 11–12th c., Heþnalagh:
- Cumbr oc þan orð havr lutit oc eig þan orð havr giuit · þa opar han þry niþingx op oc markar han a iarþv · þa se han ᛘ þæss værri þet talaþi han eig halla þorþi
- Comes the one words have suffered, and not the one words have given, then he calls out three nithing and marks the earth, for then he sees man the worse not dare keep what he said.
- (law) harsh criminal, villain, scoundrel, vile wretch, apostate (guilty of apostasy; dishonesty), in relation to crimes of honor, honesty and thereof; originally an outlaw (criminal excluded from legal rights, who can be killed at will without legal penalty)
- miser, scoundrel