nesh
/nɛʃ/ · adj
Meaning
- Soft; tender; sensitive; yielding.
- Delicate; weak; poor-spirited; susceptible to cold weather, harsh conditions etc.
- Soft; friable; crumbly.
- To make soft, tender, or weak.
- To act timidly.
Etymology / origin
From Middle English nesh, nesch, nesche, from Old English hnesċe, hnysċe, næsċe (“soft, tender, mild; weak, delicate; slack, negligent; effeminate, wanton”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnaskwī, from Proto-Germanic *hnaskuz (“soft, tender”), from Proto-Indo-European *knēs-, *kenes- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Cognate with Scots nesch, nesh (“soft, tender, yielding easily to pressure, sensitive”), Dutch nesch, nes (“wet, moist”), Gothic 𐌷𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌵𐌿𐍃 (hnasqus, “soft, tender, delicate”). Compare also nask, nasky, nasty.
- 𐌷𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌵𐌿𐍃(Gothic)→
- nesch(nl)→
- nesch(sco)→
- *knēs-(ine-pro)→
- *hnaskuz(gem-pro)→
- *hnaskwī(gmw-pro)→
- hnesċe(ang)→
- nesh(enm)→
- nesh (English)
- Relations: inh, inh, inh, inh, der, cog, cog, cog
Related words
Descendant words
- nasty(English) (cog)
- naschen(German) (cog)
Sources
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