nix
English
Etymology 1
From German nix, colloquial form of nichts (“nothing”)[1][2]. Compare also Dutch niks (“nothing”), informal for niets (“nothing”). More at naught.
Translations
Verb
nix (third-person singular simple present nixes, present participle nixing, simple past and past participle nixed)
- To make something become nothing; to reject or cancel. [from 1903]
- 1935 July 17, “Sticks Nix Hick Pix”, in Variety, page 1:
- 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:
- 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.”
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- To destroy or eradicate.
Translations
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Interjection
nix
- (obsolete) A warning cry when a policeman etc. was sighted in the street.
Related terms
References
Etymology 2
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”).
Translations
Classical Nahuatl
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈníːʃ]
Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /neɡs/, [neɡ̊s]
German
Etymology
A widespread form in dialects all over the German language area, probably the same as standard nichts, viz. a contraction of it.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɪks/
Pronoun
nix
- (colloquial) Alternative form of nichts (“nothing”)
- Ich hab nix gesehen. ― I saw nothing.
Descendants
- → English: nix
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *sniks (stem *sniɣʷ-), from Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“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) and Old English snāw and snīwan (English snow and snew).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /niks/, [nɪks]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /niks/
Inflection
Third declension i-stem.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | nix | nivēs |
Genitive | nivis | nivium |
Dative | nivī | nivibus |
Accusative | nivem | nivēs |
Ablative | nive | nivibus |
Vocative | nix | nivēs |
Descendants
- Aromanian: neao, neauã
- Asturian: ñeve, nieve
- Bourguignon: noige
- Catalan: neu
- Dalmatian: nai
- Esperanto: neĝo
- Franc-Comtois: noidge
- Franco-Provençal: nê, neu
- Friulian: nêf, nêv
- Galician: neve
- Istro-Romanian: ne
- Italian: neve
- Kabuverdianu: nevi
- Ladin: nëif
- Occitan: nèu
- Old French: noif, noi, neige
- Portuguese: neve
- Romanian: nea
- Romansch: naiv, nev
- Sardinian: nii, nie
- Sicilian: nivi
- Spanish: nieve
- Venetian: neve
References
- 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
Swedish
Interjection
nix
Synonyms
- nix pix