niet

See also: Niet, niet-, and niệt

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nit/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ni/ (often, in fast speech)
• Rhymes: -it

• audio

  (file)

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

Descendants

• Afrikaans: nie

Etymology 2

Noun

niet f (plural nieten, diminutive nietje n)

1. A staple.

Verb

niet

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

Usage notes

The word is commonly used in the diminutive form

Derived terms

• nietmachine

Anagrams

• tien

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch niewiht.

Adverb

niet

1. not

Alternative forms

• nicht
• niewet

Descendants

• Dutch: niet
• Limburgish: neet

Pronoun

niet

1. nothing

Further reading

• “niet (III)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “niet (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

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Norman

Alternative forms

• nyit (continental Normandy)
• gniet, gniaette (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French noit, nuit, from Latin noctem, accusative of nox, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Noun

niet f (plural niets)

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) night
   • 2006, Peggy Collenette, ‘Célébraïr 25 onnaïes’, P'tites Lures Guernésiaises, Cromwell Press 2006, p. 18:

     La Marie et Jimmin dormisirent toute la niet et Jimmin s'éville au matin dauve l'épile à sen naïz.

     Marie and Jimmy slept all night and Jimmy woke up in the morning with the peg on his nose.