nix

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Nix and *nix

English[edit]

WOTD – 26 November 2008

Etymology 1[edit]

From German nix, colloquial form of nichts (“nothing”)[1][2]. Compare also Dutch niks (“nothing”), informal for niets (“nothing”). More at naught.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

nix (uncountable)

  1. (colloquial) Nothing. [from 1789]
    Synonyms: nada, zip
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

nix (third-person singular simple present nixes, present participle nixing, simple past and past participle nixed)

  1. To make something become nothing; to reject or cancel. [from 1903]
    Synonyms: cancel, reject
    Nix the last order – the customer walked out.
    • 1935 July 17, “Sticks Nix Hick Pix”, in Variety, page 1:
    • 2012 June 17, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Homer’s Triple Bypass” (season 4, episode 11; originally aired 12/17/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎[1]:
      At work Mr. Burns spies Homer munching complacently on a donut and hisses that each donut Homer shoves into his fat face brings him one donut closer to the poisoned donut Mr. Burns has ordered thrown into the mix as a form of culinary Russian Roulette, only to learn from Smithers that the plant’s lawyers ultimately nixed the poisoned donut plan because “they consider it murder.”
  2. To destroy or eradicate.
Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

nix

  1. (obsolete) A warning cry when a policeman etc. was sighted in the street.

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “nix” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
  2. ^ “nix” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2020.

Etymology 2[edit]

From German Nix, from Middle High German nickes, niches, from Old High German nichus, nihhus, from Proto-Germanic *nikwus (“water-spirit; nix”), from Proto-Indo-European *neygʷ- (“to wash”). Cognate with Old English nicor (“a water-monster; hippopotamus”).

Noun[edit]

nix (plural nixes)

  1. A treacherous water-spirit; a nixie.
Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Classical Nahuatl[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

nīx (inanimate)

  1. first-person singular possessive singular of īxtli; (it is) my eye.
  2. first-person singular possessive plural of īxtli; (they are) my eyes.

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From German nichts (“nothing”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

nix or niks

  1. no, no way

Pronoun[edit]

nix

  1. (non-standard form of) niks

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from German Nixe.

Noun[edit]

nix m (plural nixen)

  1. nix, nixie (water spirit)
    • 1956, s-Gravenhage. Maandblad der gemeente 's-Gravenhage, page 14.
      Zijn dit nu de nixen van Heinrich Heine of de zwanen van de Scandinavische ballades?
      Are these then Heinrich Heine's nixes or the swans of Scandinavian ballads?
    Synonyms: nikker, watergeest

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from German nix.

Pronoun[edit]

nix

  1. (slang) Deliberate misspelling of niks.

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

A widespread form in dialects all over the German language area, probably the same as standard nichts, viz. a contraction of it.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

nix

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of nichts (“nothing”)
    Ich hab nix gesehen. ― I saw nothing.

Descendants[edit]

  • → English: nix

Interjection[edit]

nix

  1. no way!
    Nix! Jetzt ist Schluss hier!
    No way! That's it now!

Further reading[edit]

  • nix in Duden online

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Italic *sniks (stem *sniɣʷ-), from Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”), root noun derived from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”) (whence also Latin nivit, ningit, ninguit). Direct cognates include Ancient Greek νίφα (nípha) and Old Irish snechtae and indirectly also Sanskrit स्नेह (sneha) and Old English snāw and snīwan (English snow and snew).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

nix f (genitive nivis); third declension

  1. snow
    • 16 BCE, Ovid, Amores 3.6.92–93:
      Fontis habēs īnstar pluviamque nivēsque solūtās,
           quās tibi dīvitiās pigra ministrat hiemps.
      For a source you have the rain and the melting snows,
           riches which lazy winter administers to you.
  2. (figuratively) white hair
    • 23 BCE – 13 BCE, Horace, Odes 5.13.9–12:
      Importūnus enim trānsvolat āridās
      quercūs et refugit tē, quia lūridī
         dentēs tē, quia rūgae
           turpant et capitis nivēs.
      For he flies, importune, past the dry
      oaks and avoids you, because the yellowed
         teeth, because the wrinkes
           and the white hair make you ugly.

Declension[edit]

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative nix nivēs
Genitive nivis nivium
Dative nivī nivibus
Accusative nivem nivēs
nivīs
Ablative nive nivibus
Vocative nix nivēs

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • nix in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • nix in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Low German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

nix

  1. nothing

Derived terms[edit]

Pennsylvania German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Compare German nichts.

Pronoun[edit]

nix

  1. nothing

Swedish[edit]

Interjection[edit]

nix

  1. (slang) not, no (negative response to a question)
    Någon undrade om guldfonder, men nix sade Claes, alltför osäkert.
    Someone asked about gold funds, but Claes said "nope, too risky".
    – Är det någon vi känner? Frågade pappa. – Nix, svarade jag.
    Dad asked "Is it someone we know?" "No", I answered.

Synonyms[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=nix&oldid=58510109"