Nesh
Pronunciation
- IPA: /nɛʃ/
- Rhymes: -ɛʃ
Origin 1
From Middle English nesh, nesch, nesche, from Old English hnesce, hnysce, hnæsce ("soft, tender, mild; weak, delicate; slack, negligent; effeminate, wanton"), from Proto-Germanic *hnaskijaz, *hnaskuz, *hnaskwuz ("soft, tender"), from Proto-Indo-European *knÄ“s-, *kenes- ("to scratch, scrape, rub"). Cognate with Scots nesch, nesh ("soft, tender, yielding easily to pressure, sensitive"), Dutch nesch, nes ("wet, moist"), Gothic ðŒ·ðŒ½ðŒ°ðƒðŒµðŒ¿ðƒ (hnaskwus, "soft, tender, delicate"). Compare also nask, nasky, nasty.
Alternative forms
- nish (Newfoundland English)
Full definition of nesh
Adjective
nesh
- (now UK dialectal) Soft; tender; yielding.
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XIII:Therefore thou arte more harder than ony stone, and woldyst never be made neyssh nother by watir nother by fyre ....
- (now UK dialectal) Delicate; weak; poor-spirited; susceptible to cold weather, harsh conditions etc.
- 1887, Thomas_Hardy, ,And if he keeps the daughter so long at boarding-school, he'll make her as nesh as her mother was.
- 1913, D_H_Lawrence, ,No, tha'd drop down stiff, as dead as a door-knob, wi' thy nesh sides.
- (now UK dialectal) Soft; friable; crumbly.
Usage notes
This is a fairly widespread dialect term throughout Northern England and the Midlands.
Origin 2
From Middle English neschen, from Old English hnescan, hnescian ("to make soft, soften; become soft, give way, waver"), from Proto-Germanic *hnaskÅnÄ…, *hnaskÄ“nÄ… ("to make soft"), from Proto-Indo-European *knÄ“s-, *kenes- ("to scratch, scrape, rub"). Cognate with Old High German nascÅn
German naschen ("to nibble, pinch")}.
Verb
- (transitive) To make soft, tender, or weak.