nic

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nic"

Translingual

Symbol

nic

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Niger–Congo languages.

English

Etymology

Clipping of nicotine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɪk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Homophones: Nick, nick
• Rhymes: -ɪk

Noun

nic (uncountable)

1. (slang) nicotine

   I prefer vaping with nic-free juice.

Anagrams

• -cin, CIN, ICN, INC, Inc, Inc., NCI, inc, inc.

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech nic. The "č-less" form nic is from Proto-Slavic *ničьso (originally Proto-Slavic *ničeso), an (archaic and synchronically irregular) variant of genitive. Compare with Polish nic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɲɪt͡s]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪts

Pronoun

nic

1. nothing (not a thing)

   Antonym: něco

   nic jiného ― nothing else

Declension

Declension of nic (sg-only inanimate pronoun irreg-stem)

	singular
nominative	nic
genitive	ničeho
dative	ničemu
accusative	nic
vocative	—
locative	ničem
instrumental	ničím

Derived terms

• ničit

 

Related terms

• být na dvě věci: na nic a na hovno
• být na nic
• nicota
• nicotný
• ničema
• ničemný

 

Further reading

• “nic”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935-1957
• “nic”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “nic”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Kashubian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲit͡s/
• Rhymes: -it͡s
• Syllabification: nic

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ničьto.

Pronoun

nic

1. nothing (not a thing)

Adverb

nic (not comparable)

1. nothing; not at all

Declension

Declension of nic

	singular
nominative	nic
genitive	niczegò
dative	niczemù
accusative	nic
instrumental	niczim
locative	niczim

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *nitь.

Noun

nic f

1. thread (long, thin and flexible form of material)

Further reading

• Stefan Ramułt (1893) “ńic”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego (in Kashubian), page 127
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “nic”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[1], page 100
• “nic (1)”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
• “nic (2)”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
• “nic (3)”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Masurian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish nic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲit͡s/
• Rhymes: -it͡s
• Syllabification: nic

Pronoun

nic n

1. nothing (not a thing)

Noun

nic n

1. nothing (someone or something trifling, or of no consequence or importance)

Further reading

• Zofia Stamirowska (1987-2024) “nic”, in Anna Basara, editor, Słownik gwar Ostródzkiego, Warmii i Mazur, volume 4, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, →ISBN, pages 292-293

Old Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈɲit͡s/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈɲit͡s/

Pronoun

nic n

1. Alternative form of ničs.

Noun

nic n

1. Alternative form of ničs.

Adverb

nic

1. Alternative form of ničs.

Adjective

nic

1. short masculine singular of nicí

Declension

Declension of nic (short soft)

singular
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	nic	nicě	nice
genitive	nicě	nicě	nicě
dative	nicu	nici	nicu
accusative	nicě, nic	nicu	nice
locative	—	—	—
instrumental	—	—	—
dual
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	nicě	nici
genitive	—
dative	—
accusative	nicě	nici
locative	—
instrumental	—
plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	nici	nicě	nicě
genitive	—
dative	—
accusative	nicě		nicě
locative	—
instrumental	—

References

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “ničs, nic”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old English

Alternative forms

• nih, niċċ

Etymology

From ne- +‎ ic/iċ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nik/, /nit͡ʃ/

Pronoun

nic, niċ

1. not I, not me

Derived terms

• niccan

Descendants

• Middle English: nich

Old Polish

Alternative forms

• nics, niczs, nicso, niczso

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ničьto. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /ɲit͡s/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ɲit͡s/

Pronoun

nic n

1. nothing (not a thing)

Declension

Declension of nic

	singular
nominative	nic, nics, niczs, nicso, niczso
genitive	niczego
dative	niczemu
accusative	nic, nics, niczs, nicso, niczso
instrumental	niczym
locative	niczem, niczym

Noun

nic n

1. nothing (someone or something trifling, or of no consequence or importance)

Adverb

nic

1. nothing; not at all

Descendants

• Masurian: nic
• Polish: nic
• Silesian: nic

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “nic”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “nic”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “nic, nics, niczs, nic(z)so”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish nic. The "cz-less" form nic is from Proto-Slavic *ničьso (originally Proto-Slavic *ničeso), an (archaic and synchronically irregular) variant of genitive. Compare with Czech nic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɲit͡s/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈɲit͡s/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -it͡s
• Syllabification: nic

Pronoun

nic n

1. nothing (not a thing)

Noun

nic n

1. nothing (someone or something trifling, or of no consequence or importance)

Declension

Declension of nic

	singular
nominative	nic
genitive	niczego/nic
dative	niczemu
accusative	nic
instrumental	niczym
locative	niczym
vocative	nic

Adverb

nic (not comparable)

1. nothing; not at all

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), nic is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 31 times in scientific texts, 8 times in news, 43 times in essays, 183 times in fiction, and 332 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 597 times, making it the 77th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Further reading

• nic in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• nic in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “nic”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “NIC”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 13.12.2021
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “nic”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “nic”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1904), “nic”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 3, Warsaw, page 249
• nic in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Silesian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish nic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲit͡s/
• Rhymes: -it͡s
• Syllabification: nic

Pronoun

nic n

1. nothing (not a thing)

Declension

Declension of nic

	singular
nominative	nic
genitive	niczego
dative	niczymu
accusative	nic
instrumental	niczym
locative	niczym

Adverb

nic

1. nothing; not at all

Further reading

• nic in dykcjonorz.eu
• nic in silling.org