niddering

English edit

Etymology edit

A variant of nithing, resulting from the letter eth (ð) in Early Middle English niðing in the writings of the English historian William of Malmesbury (c. 1095 – c. 1143) being mistaken for a d followed by a mark of suspension representing a letter that had been omitted as an abbreviation. This led to niðing being wrongly spelled as nidering in early printed versions of his works. The word was later popularized by the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832).^[1]

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnɪdəɹɪŋ/, /ˈnɪdɹɪŋ/
Hyphenation: nid‧der‧ing

Noun edit

niddering (plural nidderings)

(archaic) Synonym of nithing (“a coward, a dastard; a wretch”)
- 1948, Seabury Quinn, “The Road to Bethlehem”, in Roads, Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House, →OCLC, page 26; reprinted Mohegan Lake, N.Y.: Red Jacket Press, 2005, →ISBN, page 26:
  [O]n the bodies of his fallen foes he kicked the gray road dust, and spat on them and named them churls and nidderings and unfit wearers of the mail of men of war.

Alternative forms edit

nidering

Adjective edit

niddering (comparative more niddering, superlative most niddering)

(archaic) Synonym of nithing (“cowardly, dastardly; notoriously evil or wicked; infamous”)
- 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 302:
  I require of thee, as a man of thy word, on pain of being held faithless, man-sworn, and nidering [footnote: Infamous], to forgive and to receive to thy paternal affection the good knight, Wilfrid of Ivanhoe.
- 1891, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “How Eric was Outlawed and Sailed A-viking”, in Eric Brighteyes, 2nd edition, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 121:
  Though thou art my son, I say this, that, if thou workest ill to Eric when he is over sea, thou shalt rightly learn the weight of Whitefire: it is a niddering deed to plot against an absent man.

Alternative forms edit

nidering

References edit

^ “niddering, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2003; “niddering, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[1] “niddering, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2003; “niddering, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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