nithingn.adj.

Brit.

/ˈnʌɪðɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈnaɪðɪŋ/

Forms: Old English–early Middle English niðing, late Old English–Middle English 1600s– nithing, early Middle English niþinc, early Middle English niþincke, Middle English niþing, Middle English niþinge, Middle English nythyng, Middle English nythynge, Middle English nyþing, Middle English nyþyng, Middle English 1900s– nything.

Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian.

Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic níðingr , Old Norwegian níðingr (Norwegian niding ), Old Swedish nīþinger (Swedish niding ), Danish nidding ) < the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic níð nithe n. + the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic -ing -ing suffix³. Compare Middle High German nīdinc , nīdunc envious person (German (archaic) Neiding envious person). Compare also post-classical Latin nidingus , nithingus (early 12th cent. in British sources). Compare later niding n., niddering n., and nidderling n.The Scandinavian words listed above occur frequently in early legal texts, specifically (in certain West Norse legal codes) as an appellation for a person who has committed a crime so heinous that no possible compensation may be made for it. The word was apparently borrowed first into Old English legal terminology (compare quot. lOE¹ at sense A. 1: a late copy of a fragment probably composed in the second half of the 10th cent.). With nithing-post n., nithing-stake n. at Compounds compare Old Icelandic níðstöng, in the same sense. Compare also the late Old English prefixed negative form unnīðing an honest man, a generous man (see quots. below), corresponding to Old Danish úníþingr, which occurs on a runic stone (of the early part of the 11th cent.) found in 1905 at Århus in Denmark; compare:lOE Glosses to Distichs of Cato (Rawl. G.57) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1906) 117 25 Non parcus : unniding.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1087 Se cyng..bead þæt ælc man þe wære unniðing sceolde cuman to him. The prefixed form is also attested as a surname in early Middle English, as Ædgarus Vnniðing (1173–4), Philippus Vnnithing (c1200). Some examples may be taken either as a noun complement or as a predicative adjective.

Now archaic and historical.

A. n.

1. A coward, a villain; a person who breaks the law or a code of honour; an outlaw.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [noun] > coward(s) > base or acknowledged coward

nithingOE

crathona1400

cradden1513

dastarda1529

poltroona1529

sneaksby1580

craven1581

niddering1596

fazart1597

cur1600

niding1605

white-liver1614

nidderling1664

snool1718

dastardling1800

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1049 Se cing þa & eall here cwædon Swegen for niðing.

lOE Laws: Walreaf (Rochester) i. 392 Walreaf is niðinges dæde.

lOE William of Malmesbury Gesta Regum Anglorum (1998) I. iv. §306. 548 Iubet ut compatriotas aduocent ad obsidionem uenire, nisi si qui uelint sub nomine Nithing, quod nequam sonat, remanere.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15168 Wurðe for niðing þe mon þe nule hine sturien.

c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 196 (MED) Þanne spak þe gode kyng; Iwis he nas no Niþing.

c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 15 (MED) He ys a nyþyng, a noȝt, a negard, þai say.

1853 J. Lingard Hist. Eng. (new ed.) II. 79 All freemen from towns and manors were ordered to attend under the penalty of being pronounced ‘nithings’.

1861 C. H. Pearson Early & Middle Ages Eng. 164 The rebel was now proclaimed a ‘nithing’.

1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest V. xxiii. 77 The shameful name of nithing was to be the doom of every man..who failed to obey this summons of his lord.

1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. I. ii. 70 The king bade..That every wight, who meets him in the path, Him Nithing call.

1956 R. Sutcliff Shield Ring iv. 39 You know how hard it goes with me to play the nything.

†2. A mean or niggardly person; a miser. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun] > niggard or mean person

nithinga1225

chinch?a1300

nigc1300

chincher1333

shut-purse1340

niggardc1384

haynec1386

nigona1400

pinchera1425

pinchpenny?c1425

pynepenya1450

pelt1511

chincherda1529

churl1535

pinchbeck1538

carl?1542

penny-father1549

nipfarthing1566

nipper?1573

holdfast1576

pinchpence1577

pinch fistc1580

pinchfart1592

shit-sticks1598

clunchfist1606

puckfist1606

sharp-nose1611

spare-good1611

crib1622

hog grubber?1626

dry-fist1633

clusterfist1652

niggardling1654

frummer1659

scrat1699

sting-hum1699

nipcheese1785

pincha1825

screw1825

wire-drawer1828

close-fist1861

penny-pincher1875

nip-skin1876

parer1887

pinch-plum1892

cheapskate1899

meanie1902

tightwad1906

stinge1914

penny-peeler1925

mean1938

stiff1967

a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 230 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 173 (MED) Þas þolieð þa weren maket niþinges [v.r. meteniðinges] here.

c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 218 (MED) Ure lord god..maked..of þe lechur chaste, of þe niþinge [Fr. auier] large.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 139 (MED) Þe milde..louieþ an hondredziþe more pouerte þanne þe niþing deþ his richesse.

c1390 (c1350) in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 173 At Domes-day þe meste schennes Hit falleþ vppon þe nyþinges; ffor þei neuermore wole hem schryue Þat þei weore niþinges in heore lyue, But euere heore onswere hit is þus ‘We ȝiuen more þen men ȝiuen vs’.

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 6723 (MED) Þys tale tellyþ oure lorde Ihesu To ryche men..Þat þey ne be no nythyng Of here mete ne of here þyng.

a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) 2045 (MED) Þeo large ȝeueþ; þe nyþyng louriþ.

c1440 (a1350) Sir Isumbras (Thornton) (1844) 23 (MED) Of mete and drynke no nythynge [v.rr. noþyng; not sparynge], One lyfe was none so fre.

B. adj. (chiefly in predicative use).

†Mean, niggardly (obsolete); cowardly, treacherous.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective]

gnedec900

gripplea1000

fastOE

narrow-hearteda1200

narrow?c1225

straitc1290

chinchc1300

nithinga1325

scarcec1330

clama1340

hard1340

scantc1366

sparingc1386

niggardc1400

chinchy?1406

retentivea1450

niggardousa1492

niggish1519

unliberal1533

pinching1548

dry1552

nigh1555

niggardly1560

churlish1566

squeamish1566

niggardish1567

niggard-like1567

holding1569

spare1577

handfast1578

envious1580

close-handed1585

hard-handed1587

curmudgeonly1590

parsimonious?1591

costive1594

hidebound1598

penny-pinching1600

penurious1600

strait-handed1600

club-fisted1601

dry-fisted1604

fast-handed1605

fast-fingered1607

close-fisted1608

near1611

scanting1613

carkingc1620

illiberal1623

clutch-fisteda1634

hideboundeda1640

clutch-fista1643

clunch-fisted1644

unbounteous1645

hard-fisted1646

purse-bound1652

close1654

stingy1659

tenacious1676

scanty1692

sneaking1696

gripe-handed1698

narrow-souled1699

niggardling1704

snippy1727

unindulgent1742

shabby1766

neargoinga1774

cheesemongering1781

split-farthing1787

save-all1788

picked1790

iron-fisted1794

unhandsome1800

scaly1803

nearbegoing1805

tight1805

nippit1808

nipcheese1819

cumin-splitting1822

partan-handed1823

scrimping1823

scrumptious1823

scrimpy1825

meanly1827

skinny1833

pinchfisted1837

mean1840

tight-fisted1843

screwy1844

stinty1849

cheeseparing1857

skinflinty1886

mouly1904

mingy1911

cheapskate1912

picey1937

tight-assed1961

chintzy1964

tightwad1976

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3432 He bad him chesen steres-men..Ðe soð-fastnesse lef ben, And ðe niðing giscing flen.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 28741 (MED) Quat es þat spense mai be Nithing þar þe lauerd es fre. [a1425 Galba what nede es þat þe spenser be Nithing of þat þe lord es fre.]

a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 1173 (MED) Hast thow be hard and nythynge To wythholden any thynge?

1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 34 Nithing, much valuing, sparing of, as Nithing of his pains: i.e. Sparing of his pains.

1770 T. Percy tr. P. H. Mallet Northern Antiq. I. ix. 219 King William Rufus..sent word to all such as held of him in fee, that those who did not repair to his assistance should be deemed Nithing.

1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 104 The King and the army publicly declared the murderer to be Nithing.

1943 F. M. Stenton Anglo-Saxon Eng. xii. 423 King Edward summoned an assembly of the whole army at Sandwich, which solemnly declared Swein to be ‘nithing’, that is, a man without honour.

Compounds

nithing-post n. historical a post or stake set up as a form of insult to a person.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > insult > [noun] > post as form of insult

nithing-post1847

nithing-stake1847

1847 T. Percy et al. tr. P. H. Mallet Northern Antiq. (rev. ed.) 155 Setting up what was called a Nithing-post or Nithing-stake.

1863 J. Sewell Christian Names II. 277 In the North such a pole was called a nithing post.

1923 J. B. Cabell High Place v. 52 I here set up..a nithing post. I turn the post. I turn the eternal banishment against Madame Mélusine.

nithing-stake n. historical = nithing-post n.

ΚΠ

1847 T. Percy et al. tr. P. H. Mallet Northern Antiq. (rev. ed.) 155 Setting up what was called a Nithing-post or Nithing-stake.

1890 W. Morris in Eng. Illustr. Mag. Sept. 894 His head on our hall-gable should be to us a nithing-stake, and a tree of reproach.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	nithing
释义	nithingn.adj. Brit. /ˈnʌɪðɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈnaɪðɪŋ/ Forms: Old English–early Middle English niðing, late Old English–Middle English 1600s– nithing, early Middle English niþinc, early Middle English niþincke, Middle English niþing, Middle English niþinge, Middle English nythyng, Middle English nythynge, Middle English nyþing, Middle English nyþyng, Middle English 1900s– nything. Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic níðingr , Old Norwegian níðingr (Norwegian niding ), Old Swedish nīþinger (Swedish niding ), Danish nidding ) < the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic níð nithe n. + the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic -ing -ing suffix³. Compare Middle High German nīdinc , nīdunc envious person (German (archaic) Neiding envious person). Compare also post-classical Latin nidingus , nithingus (early 12th cent. in British sources). Compare later niding n., niddering n., and nidderling n.The Scandinavian words listed above occur frequently in early legal texts, specifically (in certain West Norse legal codes) as an appellation for a person who has committed a crime so heinous that no possible compensation may be made for it. The word was apparently borrowed first into Old English legal terminology (compare quot. lOE¹ at sense A. 1: a late copy of a fragment probably composed in the second half of the 10th cent.). With nithing-post n., nithing-stake n. at Compounds compare Old Icelandic níðstöng, in the same sense. Compare also the late Old English prefixed negative form unnīðing an honest man, a generous man (see quots. below), corresponding to Old Danish úníþingr, which occurs on a runic stone (of the early part of the 11th cent.) found in 1905 at Århus in Denmark; compare:lOE Glosses to Distichs of Cato (Rawl. G.57) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1906) 117 25 Non parcus : unniding.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1087 Se cyng..bead þæt ælc man þe wære unniðing sceolde cuman to him. The prefixed form is also attested as a surname in early Middle English, as Ædgarus Vnniðing (1173–4), Philippus Vnnithing (c1200). Some examples may be taken either as a noun complement or as a predicative adjective. Now archaic and historical. A. n. 1. A coward, a villain; a person who breaks the law or a code of honour; an outlaw. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [noun] > coward(s) > base or acknowledged coward nithingOE crathona1400 cradden1513 dastarda1529 poltroona1529 sneaksby1580 craven1581 niddering1596 fazart1597 cur1600 niding1605 white-liver1614 nidderling1664 snool1718 dastardling1800 OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1049 Se cing þa & eall here cwædon Swegen for niðing. lOE Laws: Walreaf (Rochester) i. 392 Walreaf is niðinges dæde. lOE William of Malmesbury Gesta Regum Anglorum (1998) I. iv. §306. 548 Iubet ut compatriotas aduocent ad obsidionem uenire, nisi si qui uelint sub nomine Nithing, quod nequam sonat, remanere. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15168 Wurðe for niðing þe mon þe nule hine sturien. c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 196 (MED) Þanne spak þe gode kyng; Iwis he nas no Niþing. c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 15 (MED) He ys a nyþyng, a noȝt, a negard, þai say. 1853 J. Lingard Hist. Eng. (new ed.) II. 79 All freemen from towns and manors were ordered to attend under the penalty of being pronounced ‘nithings’. 1861 C. H. Pearson Early & Middle Ages Eng. 164 The rebel was now proclaimed a ‘nithing’. 1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest V. xxiii. 77 The shameful name of nithing was to be the doom of every man..who failed to obey this summons of his lord. 1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. I. ii. 70 The king bade..That every wight, who meets him in the path, Him Nithing call. 1956 R. Sutcliff Shield Ring iv. 39 You know how hard it goes with me to play the nything. †2. A mean or niggardly person; a miser. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun] > niggard or mean person nithinga1225 chinch?a1300 nigc1300 chincher1333 shut-purse1340 niggardc1384 haynec1386 nigona1400 pinchera1425 pinchpenny?c1425 pynepenya1450 pelt1511 chincherda1529 churl1535 pinchbeck1538 carl?1542 penny-father1549 nipfarthing1566 nipper?1573 holdfast1576 pinchpence1577 pinch fistc1580 pinchfart1592 shit-sticks1598 clunchfist1606 puckfist1606 sharp-nose1611 spare-good1611 crib1622 hog grubber?1626 dry-fist1633 clusterfist1652 niggardling1654 frummer1659 scrat1699 sting-hum1699 nipcheese1785 pincha1825 screw1825 wire-drawer1828 close-fist1861 penny-pincher1875 nip-skin1876 parer1887 pinch-plum1892 cheapskate1899 meanie1902 tightwad1906 stinge1914 penny-peeler1925 mean1938 stiff1967 a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 230 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 173 (MED) Þas þolieð þa weren maket niþinges [v.r. meteniðinges] here. c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 218 (MED) Ure lord god..maked..of þe lechur chaste, of þe niþinge [Fr. auier] large. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 139 (MED) Þe milde..louieþ an hondredziþe more pouerte þanne þe niþing deþ his richesse. c1390 (c1350) in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 173 At Domes-day þe meste schennes Hit falleþ vppon þe nyþinges; ffor þei neuermore wole hem schryue Þat þei weore niþinges in heore lyue, But euere heore onswere hit is þus ‘We ȝiuen more þen men ȝiuen vs’. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 6723 (MED) Þys tale tellyþ oure lorde Ihesu To ryche men..Þat þey ne be no nythyng Of here mete ne of here þyng. a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) 2045 (MED) Þeo large ȝeueþ; þe nyþyng louriþ. c1440 (a1350) Sir Isumbras (Thornton) (1844) 23 (MED) Of mete and drynke no nythynge [v.rr. noþyng; not sparynge], One lyfe was none so fre. B. adj. (chiefly in predicative use). †Mean, niggardly (obsolete); cowardly, treacherous. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective] gnedec900 gripplea1000 fastOE narrow-hearteda1200 narrow?c1225 straitc1290 chinchc1300 nithinga1325 scarcec1330 clama1340 hard1340 scantc1366 sparingc1386 niggardc1400 chinchy?1406 retentivea1450 niggardousa1492 niggish1519 unliberal1533 pinching1548 dry1552 nigh1555 niggardly1560 churlish1566 squeamish1566 niggardish1567 niggard-like1567 holding1569 spare1577 handfast1578 envious1580 close-handed1585 hard-handed1587 curmudgeonly1590 parsimonious?1591 costive1594 hidebound1598 penny-pinching1600 penurious1600 strait-handed1600 club-fisted1601 dry-fisted1604 fast-handed1605 fast-fingered1607 close-fisted1608 near1611 scanting1613 carkingc1620 illiberal1623 clutch-fisteda1634 hideboundeda1640 clutch-fista1643 clunch-fisted1644 unbounteous1645 hard-fisted1646 purse-bound1652 close1654 stingy1659 tenacious1676 scanty1692 sneaking1696 gripe-handed1698 narrow-souled1699 niggardling1704 snippy1727 unindulgent1742 shabby1766 neargoinga1774 cheesemongering1781 split-farthing1787 save-all1788 picked1790 iron-fisted1794 unhandsome1800 scaly1803 nearbegoing1805 tight1805 nippit1808 nipcheese1819 cumin-splitting1822 partan-handed1823 scrimping1823 scrumptious1823 scrimpy1825 meanly1827 skinny1833 pinchfisted1837 mean1840 tight-fisted1843 screwy1844 stinty1849 cheeseparing1857 skinflinty1886 mouly1904 mingy1911 cheapskate1912 picey1937 tight-assed1961 chintzy1964 tightwad1976 a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3432 He bad him chesen steres-men..Ðe soð-fastnesse lef ben, And ðe niðing giscing flen. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 28741 (MED) Quat es þat spense mai be Nithing þar þe lauerd es fre. [a1425 Galba what nede es þat þe spenser be Nithing of þat þe lord es fre.] a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 1173 (MED) Hast thow be hard and nythynge To wythholden any thynge? 1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 34 Nithing, much valuing, sparing of, as Nithing of his pains: i.e. Sparing of his pains. 1770 T. Percy tr. P. H. Mallet Northern Antiq. I. ix. 219 King William Rufus..sent word to all such as held of him in fee, that those who did not repair to his assistance should be deemed Nithing. 1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 104 The King and the army publicly declared the murderer to be Nithing. 1943 F. M. Stenton Anglo-Saxon Eng. xii. 423 King Edward summoned an assembly of the whole army at Sandwich, which solemnly declared Swein to be ‘nithing’, that is, a man without honour. Compounds nithing-post n. historical a post or stake set up as a form of insult to a person. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > insult > [noun] > post as form of insult nithing-post1847 nithing-stake1847 1847 T. Percy et al. tr. P. H. Mallet Northern Antiq. (rev. ed.) 155 Setting up what was called a Nithing-post or Nithing-stake. 1863 J. Sewell Christian Names II. 277 In the North such a pole was called a nithing post. 1923 J. B. Cabell High Place v. 52 I here set up..a nithing post. I turn the post. I turn the eternal banishment against Madame Mélusine. nithing-stake n. historical = nithing-post n. ΚΠ 1847 T. Percy et al. tr. P. H. Mallet Northern Antiq. (rev. ed.) 155 Setting up what was called a Nithing-post or Nithing-stake. 1890 W. Morris in Eng. Illustr. Mag. Sept. 894 His head on our hall-gable should be to us a nithing-stake, and a tree of reproach. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.OE
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