Wiktionary

nix

See also: Nix and *nix

English

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WOTD – 26 November 2008

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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
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Verb

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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.
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Interjection

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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.
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References

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  1. ^ “nix”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “nix”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Etymology 2

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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

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nix (plural nixes)

  2. A treacherous water-spirit
    Hyponym: nixie
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Anagrams

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Bavarian

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Etymology

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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

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Pronoun

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nix (indefinite)

  1. nothing
    Nix mehr då. ― Nothing left.

Central Franconian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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nix (indefinite)

  1. nothing

Classical Nahuatl

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Etymology

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From German nix, nichts (“nothing”).

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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nix

  1. no, no way

Alternative forms

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Pronoun

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nix

  1. (nonstandard) Alternative form of niks

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from German Nixe.

Noun

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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

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Possibly from German nix.

Pronoun

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nix

  1. (slang) Deliberate misspelling of niks.

German

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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nix

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

Descendants

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  • → English: nix
  • → French: nix

Interjection

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nix

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

Further reading

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  • “nix” in Duden online
  • “nix” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin

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Etymology

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    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

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    Noun

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    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

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    Third-declension noun (i-stem).

    singular plural
    nominative nix nivēs
    genitive nivis nivium
    dative nivī nivibus
    accusative nivem nivēs
    nivīs
    ablative nive nivibus
    vocative nix nivēs
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    Descendants

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    References

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    Further reading

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    • “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

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Compare to German nichts (“nothing”)

    Pronoun

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    nix

    1. nothing

    Derived terms

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    Pennsylvania German

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    Etymology

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    Compare German nichts.

    Pronoun

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    nix

    1. nothing

    Romanian

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French nix.

    Noun

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    nix m (plural nicși)

    1. nixie

    Declension

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    Declension of nix
    singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative-accusative nix nixul nicși nicșii
    genitive-dative nix nixului nicși nicșilor
    vocative nixule nicșilor

    References

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

    Sui

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    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    nix

    1. mother

    Swedish

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    Etymology

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    From German nichts (“nothing”).

    Interjection

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    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.

    Derived terms

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    See also

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    References

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