Etymology: Apparently < Middle French nies (see nephew n.), either representing a form with early loss of final /s/, or via an unattested analogical oblique form without -s.

Etymology: Symbolic abbreviation for neon n. (compare sense 1 at that entry).

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French neer (late 12th cent. in northern Old French), variant of neier nay v.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian ne , ni , Middle Dutch ne , en , Old Saxon ne , ni (Middle Low German ne , en ), Old High German ni , ne (Middle High German ne , en ), early Scandinavian (runic) ni , Old Icelandic (poetic) ne , Gothic ni < the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit na , Avestan na (only in compounds with other particles), ancient Greek νη- (only in compounds; probably the reflex of unattested *νε- ), classical Latin ne- (only in compounds, as nefās , nequēre , etc.), Gaulish ne , ni , Early Irish ni , Old Welsh, Welsh ni , Old Church Slavonic ne , Lithuanian ne ; compare also (with lengthened grade; possibly for emphasis) classical Latin nē lest, that not, not, Gothic ne no, Latvian nē no; and (with zero-grade; and with the function of a negative prefix) the list of Indo-European cognates s.v. un- prefix¹. Compare the various reduplicated and compound forms represented by nen conj.¹, no adv.¹, nay adv.¹, naught pron., nought pron., etc.The β forms have their origin in Old English, in which the adverb ne was reduced to n- before certain common words beginning with a vowel (or with initial h- or w- followed by a vowel), as in nā , nān , nǣfre , nǣnig and the verbal forms nabban , neom , nys , næs , nyllan , nytan , etc. In Middle English various parts of the verbs be v., have v., will v.¹, and wit v.¹ occur frequently with this prefixed n- (for illustrations see the respective verbs). The same phenomenon occurs with other verbs and occasionally with another word preceding the verb; the conjunction ne can also combine with a following word (see sense B. 1a). In Middle English ne also occurs very occasionally suffixed to the preceding word (in the form -n ). It appears that in Middle English ne , being perceived as a weak marker of negation, was frequently supplemented (when not accompanied by other negatives) by nought . With the development of not as a distinct form of the latter when functioning as a marker of negation, ne became redundant and was lost in ordinary use by the 16th cent. With the use at ne conj.² compare na conj. 1, nor conj.² N.E.D. (1906) gives the pronunciation as (nī) /niː/, presumably reflecting uses of the word when stressed, principally as conjunction. In earlier English in most uses the vowel is likely to have been reduced and centralized.

Etymology: < Maori nē, discourse particle giving emphasis to a question, proposal, or statement. Use in English is restricted to representations of Maori speech; the equivalent particle in New Zealand English is eh int. (used after statements as well as questions, perhaps influenced by Maori nē).Compare unrelated but semantically similar nê adv.³

Etymology: Shortened < never adv.Probably showing assimilation before m : compare nemmine phr.

Etymology: Origin uncertain, perhaps a specific use of ne conj.¹ Compare na conj., no conj.², nor conj.²For a hypothesis explaining this and the other forms listed above as resulting from influence from Celtic languages see TPS 106 (2008) 1–28.