nied

Alternative forms

• nȳd, nēd, nēad

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *naudiz, from earlier *nauþiz, from Proto-Indo-European *nAut- (“torment, misfortune”), from *nāw- (“the dead, corpse”). Cognate with Old Frisian nēd (West Frisian need), Old Saxon nōd (Low German noot), Dutch nood, Old High German nōt (German Not (“need, hardship, emergency”), Old Norse nauð (Danish nød, Swedish nöd), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (nauþs). The Indo-European root is also the source of Lithuanian nõvyti (“oppress, destroy”), Old Church Slavonic уныти (unyti), Russian ныть (nytʹ, “throbbing pain”), Latvian nāve (“death”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niːyd/

Noun

nīed f

1. (West Saxon) constraint, violence, compulsion
2. (West Saxon) need as an abstract concept, distress
3. (West Saxon) a need or necessity for something
4. (West Saxon) a situation of distress or lack of something
5. (West Saxon) the runic character ᚾ (/n/)