Wiktionary

nix

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
    • 1912, Edna Ferber, “Maymeys from Cuba”, in Buttered Side Down:
      "That's a clean lift from Kipling—or is it Conan Doyle? Anyway, I've read something just like it before. Say, kid, guess what these magazine guys get for a full page ad.? Nix. That's just like a woman. Three thousand straight. Fact."
    • 1920, Harold MacGrath, chapter 26, in The Drums of Jeopardy:
      "I can take you down, Miss Conover, but I cannot take Mr. Hawksley. When the boss gives me an order I obey it—if I possibly can. On the day the boss tells me you can go strolling, I'll give you the key to the city. Until then, nix! No use arguing, Mr. Hawksley."
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, volume 119, number 5, page 1:
      Sticks Nix Hick Pix [headline]
    • 1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
      He said his roommate had reacted favorably & said he "wanted to share the bed" with him! So I figured that nixed me out of the picture at least for now.
    • 1999, Owen W. Linzmayer, Apple Confidential, San Francisco: No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 242:
      The move came less than six months after Jobs had nixed the spin-off of Newton Inc. as an independent company and brought it back inside Apple (see “The Fallen Apple,” page 143).
    • 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. No! Not at all!
    • 1916 January, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 472, column 2:
      "Ugh! An inventor, eh?" "Nix! He's not an inventor himself, but he antes-up for 'em."
  2. (obsolete) A warning cry when a policeman or schoolmaster etc. was seen approaching.

Related terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ “nix”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “nix”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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
    Hyponym: nixie
Translations edit

Anagrams edit

Bavarian edit

Etymology edit

Contraction of Middle High German nihtes niht (“nothing of nothing”), from Old High German niowiht, from nio (“never”) + wiht (“being, creature”), whence also ned (“not”), net, and German nicht, nichts. Compare also Central Franconian nüüx, nuuks, neihst, nühs.

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

nix (indefinite)

  1. nothing
    Nix mehr då. ― Nothing left.

Central Franconian edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From German nix. Compare Central Franconian nüüx and nühs, also Bavarian nix.

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

nix (indefinite)

  1. nothing

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 nix, nichts (“nothing”).

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

nix

  1. no, no way

Alternative forms edit

Pronoun edit

nix

  1. (nonstandard) Alternative 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)
    Synonyms: nikker, watergeest
    • 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?

Etymology 2 edit

Possibly 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, that is, 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
  • → French: 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
  • “nix” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Italic *sniks (with oblique stem *sniɣʷ- > niv-), from Proto-Indo-European *snéygʷʰs (“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), Old Church Slavonic снѣгъ (sněgŭ) 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, The Loves 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. (figurative) 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.
  3. (alchemy) Synonym of cadmia, zinc oxide

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

Further reading 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

Etymology edit

Compare to German nichts (“nothing”)

Pronoun edit

nix

  1. nothing

Derived terms edit

Pennsylvania German edit

Etymology edit

Compare German nichts.

Pronoun edit

nix

  1. nothing

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French nix.

Noun edit

nix m (plural nicși)

  1. nixie

Declension edit

Declension of nix
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) nix nixul (niște) nicși nicșii
genitive/dative (unui) nix nixului (unor) nicși nicșilor
vocative nixule nicșilor

References edit

  • nix in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Sui edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

nix

  1. mother

Swedish edit

Etymology edit

From German nichts (“nothing”).

Interjection edit

nix

  1. (colloquial) nope
    Synonym: nix pix
    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?" "Nope", I answered.

References edit

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