niet

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nit/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ni/ (often, in fast speech)
• Rhymes: -it

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch niwet, niet, from Old Dutch *niowiht, niewiht, from nio (“never”) + wiht (“thing, creature”). The former in turn derives from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”) + *aiw- (“ever”) + *wiht- (“thing”).

It was originally a pronoun meaning "not a thing", and was later used to reinforce a regular negation. The pronomial meaning was lost in Middle Dutch. English not, and its older forms naught and nought, were formed in the same way, but "not" also lost its sense as a pronoun and became a negation adverb as in Dutch.

Etymology 2

Anagrams

• tien

Etymology

From Old Dutch niewiht.

Adverb

niet

1. not

Pronoun

niet

1. nothing

Further reading

• “niet (III)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “niet (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Alternative forms

• nyit (continental Normandy)
• gniet, gniaette (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French noit, nuit, from Latin noctem, accusative of nox, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Noun

niet f (plural niets)

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) night
   • 2006, Peggy Collenette, ‘Célébraïr 25 onnaïes’, P'tites Lures Guernésiaises, Cromwell Press 2006, p. 18:

     La Marie et Jimmin dormisirent toute la niet et Jimmin s'éville au matin dauve l'épile à sen naïz.

     Marie and Jimmy slept all night and Jimmy woke up in the morning with the peg on his nose.