英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

nippy (adj.)[nippy 词源字典]: 1898, in reference to a "biting" chill in the air, from nip (n.2) + -y (2). Related: Nippiness.[nippy etymology, nippy origin, 英语词源]
nirvana (n.): 1836, from Sanskrit nirvana-s "extinction, disappearance" (of the individual soul into the universal), literally "to blow out, a blowing out" ("not transitively, but as a fire ceases to draw;" a literal Latinization would be de-spiration), from nis-, nir- "out" + va- "to blow" (see wind (n.1)). Figurative sense of "perfect bliss" is from 1895.
nisei (n.): "American born of Japanese parents," from Japanese ni- "second" + sei "generation." Use limited to U.S. West Coast until c. 1942.
nit (n.): Old English hnitu "louse egg, nit," from Proto-Germanic *hnitu- (cognates: Norwegian nit, Middle Dutch nete, Dutch neet, Middle High German niz, German Niß), from PIE root *knid- "egg of a louse" (cognates: Russian, Polish gnida, Czech knida; Greek konidos, genitive konis "egg of a louse").
nite (n.): arbitrary respelling of night, attested from 1931.
niter: see nitre.
nitpick (v.): "seek petty faults," also nit-pick, 1962, back-formation from earlier nitpicker. Related: Nitpicking; nitpicky.
nitpicker (n.): "pedantic critic," 1951; see nit (n.) + pick (v.).
nitrate (n.): 1794, from French nitrate (1787) or formed in English from nitre + -ate (3). Related: Nitrates.
nitre (n.): c. 1400, "native sodium carbonate," from Old French nitre (13c.), from Latin nitrum, from Greek nitron, which is possibly of Eastern origin (compare Hebrew nether "carbonate of soda;" Egyptian ntr). Originally a word for native soda, but also associated from Middle Ages with saltpeter (potassium nitrate) for obscure reasons; this became the predominant sense by late 16c.
nitric (adj.): 1794, originally in reference to acid obtained initially from distillation of saltpeter; see nitre + -ic. Perhaps immediately from French nitrique. Known as aqua fortis, later acid spirit of nitre, then nitric acid. (1787) under the system ordered by Lavoisier.
nitrification (n.): 1827, from French nitrification (1787, de Morveau), from nitrifier (1777), from nitre (see nitre).
nitro (n.): abbreviation of nitroglycerine, 1935, slang.
nitro-: before vowels nitr-, word-forming element used scientifically and indicating "nitrogen, nitrate" or "nitric acid," from comb. form of Greek nitron (see nitre).
nitrogen (n.): 1794, from French nitrogène, coined 1790 by French chemist Jean Antoine Chaptal (1756-1832), from comb. form of Greek nitron "sodium carbonate" (see nitro-) + French gène "producing," from Greek -gen "giving birth to" (see -gen). The gas was identified in part by analysis of nitre. Earlier name (1772) was mephitic air, and Lavoisier called it azote (see azo-).
nitroglycerine (n.): also nitroglycerin, "explosive oily liquid," 1857, from nitro- + glycerin. So called either because it was obtained by treating glycerine with nitric and sulfuric acids or because it is essentially a nitrate (glyceryl trinitrate).
nitrous (adj.): c. 1600, from Latin nitrosus, from nitrum (see nitre). Originally "of nitre, pertaining to nitre;" more precise use in chemistry (designating a compound in which the nitrogen has a lower valence than the corresponding nitric compound) is from 1780s. Nitrous oxide attested from 1800.
nitty (adj.): "full of nits," 1560s, from nit + -y (2).
nitty-gritty (n.): "basic facts," 1961, knitty-gritty, American English, said to have been chiefly used by black jazz musicians, perhaps ultimately from nit and grits "finely ground corn." As an adjective from 1966.
nitwit (n.): "stupid person," 1922, probably from nit "nothing," from dialectal German or Yiddish, from Middle Low German (see nix) + wit (n.).