nithing
A coward, a dastard; a wretchA coward, a dastard; a wretch.
Meaning
2 senses(archaic)A coward, a dastard; a wretch.
(archaic)A wicked person; also, one who has acted immorally or unlawfully.
Origin
From Middle English nithing, nithinc, nything, nythyng, nythynge, niþinge, nyþing, nyþyng,From Middle English nithing, nithinc, nything, nythyng, nythynge, niþinge, nyþing, nyþyng, Early Middle English niðing, niþinc, niþincke (“coward, wretch; good-for-nothing; term of address for a boy or lad; stingy or miserly person; niggardly, miserly, stingy”), from Late Old English nithing, Old English niðing, nīþing (“coward; wretch; outlaw, villain”), from a North Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *nīþą (“envy; hate; malice”) (from Proto-Indo-European *neyH- (“to be angry”)) + *-ingō, *-ungō (suffix forming gerund nouns from verbs).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: nithingsSynonyms
63 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.