N
nab, the head. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 3 (Higgen); Harman, Caveat, p. 82; Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); nabb, a hat, Shadwell, Squire Alsatia, ii. 1. Swed. dial, nabb, the head (Rietz).
nab-cheat, a hat or cap. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1; Harman, Caveat, p. 82. See [cheat] (Thieves’ Cant).
nache, the rump; ‘The nache by the tayle’, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 57. 3. A west Yorks. word, see EDD. (s.v. Aitch-bone). OF. nache, a buttock (Godefroy); Ital. natica. See Dict. (s.v. Aitch-bone).
nads, an ‘adze’. Tusser, Husbandry, § 17. 9.
næve, a spot, blemish; ‘Spots, like næves’, Dryden, Death of Lord Hastings, 55. L. naevus, a mole, or mark on the body.
nake, to bare, unsheathe a sword; ‘Nake your swords’, Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, v. 1 (Lussurioso). ME. naken, to make naked (Chaucer, Boethius, bk. iv, met. 7).
naked, unarmed. Othello, v. 2. 258. Phr. naked bed, in reference to the once common custom of sleeping undressed, no night-linen being worn; ‘In her naked bed’, Venus and Ad. 397. See Nares; and EDD. (s.v. Naked, 1 (1)).
nale, at, for atten ale, at the ale-house. Hickscorner, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 166. Cp. Glouc. phrase, ‘He’s gone to nale’ (EDD.). ME. atte nale, at the ale-house (P. Plowman, C. viii. 19).
nall, an ‘awl’. Tusser, Husbandry, § 17. 4; ‘A naule, idem quod aule’, Levins, Manip.; ‘Nall for a souter, alesne’, Palsgrave. ‘Nawl’ is in common prov. use in various parts of England (EDD.).
namecouth, known by name, famous. Spelt naamkouth, Grimalde, Concerning Virgil, 14; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 102.
namely, especially. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 3. 14; vii. 7. 48.
nape, to strike upon the nape or back of the head just above the neck. ‘Naped in the head’, Latimer, 3 Sermon (ed. Arber, 76); ‘I nawpe one in the necke’, Palsgrave.
Napier’s bones, ivory rods marked with numbers, for facilitating calculation; invented by Lord Napier of Merchiston (d. 1617). Butler, Hud. ii. 3. 1095; iii. 2. 409.
nappy, having a head, foaming; heady, strong. Sir T. Wyatt, Sat. iii. 16; Gay, Shepherd’s Week, ii. 56. In common prov. use (EDD.).
nares, nostrils. Butler, Hud. i. 1. 742; ‘Nares (of a hawk)’, Book of St. Albans, fol. a 5; L. nares, pl. nostrils.
narre, nearer. Spenser, Shep. Kal., July, 97; Ruines of Rome, xvi. 3. Icel. nærre, nearer (adj.); nærr (adv.).
nas, for ne has, has not. Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 61.
nase, nose. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph., ii. 1 (Lorel). ME. nase, nose (Wars Alex. 4519).
natch, a ‘notch’; ‘Cut all the natches of his tales’ (i.e. cut, in order to destroy, all the notches off his accounts or tallies), Arden of Fev. v. 1. 24; ‘A natche, incisura; to natch, incidere’, Levins, Manip. In prov. use in various parts of the British Isles (EDD.).
nathe, ‘nave’ of a wheel. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 5. 9. In common prov. use in the north and the Midlands (EDD.).
nathemore, never the more. Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 25; iv. 8. 14. For the earlier nathemo. See NED.
native, in astrology; the subject of a horoscope, the person whose nativity is being cast. Massinger, City Madam, ii. 2 (Stargaze); Butler, Hud. i. 1. 608.
nawl; see [nall].
nay: phr. say nay, and take it, refuse, but accept; a proverbial expression as to a maid’s part. Richard III, iii. 7. 50; Peele, Sir Clyomon, p. 494, col. 1.
ne, nor. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 3. 25; All’s Well, ii. 1. 176. ME. ne, nor (Chaucer, C. T. A. 179). OE. ne.
neafe, a clenched hand, a fist. Mids. Night’s D. iv. 1. 15; neuf, B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1 (Tucca); Ford, Witch of Edmonton, iii. 1 (Cuddy). In common prov. use in various parts of the British Isles, see EDD. (s.v. Neive). ME. neefe, a fist (Barbour’s Bruce, xvi. 129); also in forms nave, new, in pl. nevis, newys, newffys (id., see Glossary). Icel. hnefi.
neal, to anneal. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, ii. 1 (Meer).
neat-house. The Neat House (lit. house for cattle) was a celebrated market-garden, near Chelsea Bridge (Gifford); Massinger, City Madam, iii. 1. 14.
neatresse, a female neatherd. Warner, Alb. England, bk. iv, ch. 20, st. 48.
neck, in chess; a move to cover check. Surrey, To the Lady that scorned her Lover, 3, in Tottel’s Misc. (ed. Arber, 21). See NED.
neck-verse, the Latin verse read by a malefactor, to entitle him to benefit of clergy, so as to save his neck; usually Psalm li. 1, Miserere mei, &c. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, iv. 4 (Pilia); Fletcher, Mad Lover, v. 3 (Chilax).
needle, to penetrate like a needle; to make their way into; ‘Mice made holes to needle in their buttocks’ (of fat hogs), Middleton, Game at Chess, v. 3 (B. Knight).
needly, of necessity, necessarily. Peele, Sir Clyomon, ed. Dyce, p. 517, col. 2; id., Tale of Troy, p. 552. A Yorks. word (EDD.).
neeld, a ‘needle’. Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, xx. 95; Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 715; Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 204. A common prov. form, see EDD. (s.v. Needle).
neele, a ‘needle’. Gammer Gurton’s Needle, i. 3 (Tyb). The word spelt without the d is common in prov. E. in many spellings, as neele, neel, neal, nill, nail (EDD.).
neesing, a sneezing, a sneeze. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xvii. 732; Bible, Job xli. 18. ‘Neese’ is in prov. use in Scotland, Ireland, and various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Neeze). ME. nesen (Prompt.). Du. niesen, to sneeze (Hexham). See Dict. (s.v. Neese).
neif, one born on a feudal manor in a state of serfdom; ‘It signifieth in our common law a bondwoman, the reason is, because women become bound rather nativitate than by any other means’, Cowell. Spelt nyefe, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii. 342. Anglo-F. neif, ‘serf de naissance ou d’origine’ (Didot); Med. L. nativus (Ducange).
neis, to scent, smell; ‘The hart . . . nere fra’ hence sall neis her i’ the wind’, B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Maud.). See NED. (s.v. Nese).
nephew, a grandson. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 22; ii. 10. 45; ‘Grandsires and nephews’, B. Jonson, Catiline, iii. 3 (Curius); spelt nevew; Phaer, Aeneid ii, 702 (= L. nepotem). See Trench, Select Glossary. ME. nevewe, a grandson (Chaucer, Hous Fame, ii. 109). OF. neveu. O. Prov. nep, nebot. L. nepotem, nephew, grandson.
nere, nearer; ‘The nere to the churche, the ferther from God’, Heywood, Prov. (ed. 1867, 17). ME. ‘þe nere þe cherche, þe fyrþer fro God’, R. Brunne, Handlyng Synne. OE. nēar, compar. of nēah, nigh.
nesh, soft, tender, delicate; ‘Like a nesh nag’, Beaumont and Fl., Bonduca, iv. 1 (Petillius); ‘Tendre, tender, nice, nesh, delicate’, Cotgrave. In gen. prov. use in Scotland and England (EDD.). ME. nesche, ‘mollis’ (Cath. Angl.). OE. hnesce, soft (B. T.).
nest of goblets, a set of them, of different sizes, fitting one inside another. Northward Ho, iii. 2 (Bellamont); neast of goblets, Marston, Dutch Courtezan, i. 1. 7. So also a nest of boxes; Udall, tr. of Apoph., Socrates, § 12.
net, nett, clear, clean, bare. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 12. 20; vi. 8. 45. F. net, neat, clean, clear; bare, empty.
nettie, neat, ‘natty’. Tusser, Husbandry, § 68. 1.
neuf; see [neafe].
neuft, a newt, evet, or eft. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 1 (Tucca); cp. newt in Bartholomew Fair, Act ii, where Knockem says, ‘What! thou’lt poison me with a newt’, &c.; where ed. 1614 has neuft (NED.).
Never a barrel the better herring, proverbial saying, meaning never one better than another, nothing to choose between them, referring to the notion that you will not find a better herring by searching in a new barrel. Gascoigne, Supposes, iv. 6 (Litio); Martiniere’s Voyage, 127 (NED. (s.v. Herring)); [Fielding, T. Jones, x. v.]. Also, In neither barrel better herring, Heywood’s Proverbs (ed. Farmer, p. 102); Udall, tr. of Apoph., Philip, § 11; ‘The Devil a barrel the better herring’, Bailey’s Colleq., Erasmus, 373; cp. Gosson, School of Abuse, 32: ‘Of both barrelles [i.e. as containing poets on the one side and cooks and painters on the other] I judge Cookes and Painters the better herring.’ See Davies (s.v. Herring).
new-eared, newly ploughed. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xviii. 492. See [ear] (to plough).
newel, a novelty, rarity. Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 276. Explained as ‘a newe thing’. Formed from new, with the suffix of novel.
new-fangle, fond of new things; ‘The peple were soo newfangle’, Morte Arthur, leaf 421; bk. xxi, c. 1 (end). See Dict. (s.v. Newfangled).
new-year’s-gift, a present to a great man on new-year’s day, usually given in hope of a reward or by way of bribe. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, ii. 1 (Julio); Ascham, Scholemaster, p. 21.
neysshe, soft. Morte Arthur, leaf 311. 8; bk. xiii, c. 30. See [nesh].
niaise, a young hawk taken out of the nest, applied allusively to a simple, witless person. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, i. 3 (Fitz.); ‘Niard, a nias faulcon’, Cotgrave. ‘Nias’ is a north Yorks. word for a young hawk (EDD.). OF. niais, ‘qui n’est pas encore sorti du nid, qu’on a pris au nid’ (La Curne). See [eyas].
nice; in various senses. It means fine, elegant, Much Ado, v. 1. 75; tender, delicate, Ant. and Cl. iii. 13. 180; precise, Macbeth, iv. 3. 174; scrupulous, Merch. Ven. ii. 1. 14; subtle, L. L. L. v. 2. 232; coy, prudish, L. L. L. iii. 1. 24; squeamish, Tam. Shrew, iii. 1. 80; trifling, Romeo, iii. 1. 159. To make it nice, to seem reluctant, North, tr. of Plutarch, M. Antonius, § 14 (in Shak. Plut., p. 177).
niceness, coyness, scrupulousness. Cymb. iii. 4. 158; Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, i. 1 (Colonel).
nick, to cut in nicks or notches, Com. of Errors, v. 175; to clip, curtail, Ant. and Cl. iii. 13. 8. In the nick, at the right moment, Othello, v. 2. 317; out of all nick, beyond all reckoning, excessively, Two Gent. iv. 2. 76. See EDD. (s.v. Nick, sb.4 1). Hence, nick, to hit off, to find out with precision; ‘You’ve nicked the channel’ (i.e. the right course), Congreve, Love for Love, iii. 4 (Ben); nicked, luckily saved, Butler, Hud. iii. 2. 1304. See EDD. (s.v. Nick, vb.2 2).
nidget, nideot, an ‘idiot’, simpleton. Spelt nigget, Middleton, The Changeling, iii. 3 (Lollio). In prov. use (EDD.).
niding; see [nithing].
niece, a grand-daughter, Richard III, iv. 1. 1; a relative, cousin (vaguely used). Greene, Alphonsus, ii, prol. 12; id., iii (Fausta, l. 939). Down to the beginning of the 17th cent. the sense of grand-daughter appears to have been common; see Trench, Select Glossary.
nifles, trifles, things of little or no value; trifling tales; ‘The fables and the nyfyls’, Heywood, A Mery Play, 434 (NED). ME. nyfles: ‘He served hem with nyfles and with fablis’ (Chaucer, C. T. D. 1760). OF. nifles (Godefroy). See EDD. (s.v. Nifle).
nifling, trifling, worthless, Lady Alimony, ii. 6. 10.
niggers, niggers-noggers, meaningless forms, used as minced oaths. Rowley, A Match at Midnight, i. 1 (Tim.); also sniggers, id.
niggish, niggardly, miserly; ‘Niggish slovenrie’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 11; ‘Nigeshe penny fathers’, More’s Utopia (ed. Lumby, 102). See Nares.
niggle, to do anything in a trifling, fiddling, ineffective way; ‘Take heed, daughter, you niggle not with your conscience’, Massinger, Emperor of the East, v. 3 (Theodosius). In prov. use with numerous variations of sense, see EDD. Norw. dial. nigla (Aasen).
night-cap, a nocturnal bully, a notorious roisterer. Webster, Duch. of Malfi, ii. 1; Devil’s Law-case, ii, 1. See [Roaring Boys].
night-rail, a night-dress. Middleton, Mayor of Queenboro’, iii. 2 (1 Lady); Massinger, City Madam, iii. 2 (end); iv. 4 (Luke). In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Night, 1 (29)). OE. hrægl, dress. See Nares (s.v. Night-rail), and Dict. (s.v. Rail, 4).
night-snap, a thief (Cant). Beaumont and Fl., Chances, ii. 1 (John).
nil(l, to be unwilling, often denoting simple futurity; ‘I nill live in sorrowe’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 151; ‘I nill relate’, Pericles, iii, prel. 55; will he nill he, Hamlet, v. 1. 18; to will and nill, B. Jonson, Epigrams, xlii. 16; nild, pt. t. would not, ‘Unto the founts Diana nild repair’, Greene, Radagon’s Sonnet, 17 (ed. Dyce, p. 301). ‘Nill ye, will ye’, whether you wish or not, is in use in Scotland; ‘Nildy wildy’, whether one would or not, is heard is E. Anglia (EDD.). ME. nil, pr. s.; nolde, pt. t. (Chaucer).
nim, to steal. Puritan Widow, i. 4. 167; Butler, Hud. i. 1. 598; hence, nimmer, a thief, id., ii. 3. 1094; Tomkis, Albumazar, iii. 7 (end); nimming, stealing, Massinger, Guardian, v. 2 (Durazzo). ‘Nim’ and ‘Nimmer’ are in prov. use (EDD.). ME. nimen, to take, to seize (P. Plowman), see Dict. M. and S.; OE. niman, to take; cp. G. nehmen.
nine-holes, a game in which the players endeavoured to roll small balls into nine holes in the ground, all separately numbered. Drayton, Pol. xiv. 22; Muses’ Elysium, Nymphal vi (Melanthus). See EDD. (s.v. Nine, 1 (9)), and NED. (s.v. Nine-holes).
nine men’s morris, a rural game, called also Merrils, described in Brand’s Pop. Antiq. (ed. 1877, p. 542), Mids. Night’s D. ii. 1. 98. Called ‘Morris’ by popular etymology, as if with reference to the movement (or dance) of the men (or pieces). But the right name was ‘Merelles’ (i.e. counters or pieces used in the game). Cp. Cotgrave: ‘Merelles, Le jeu des merelles, The boyish game called Merils or five-penny Morris, played here most commonly with stones, but in France with pawns or men made of purpose, and termed Merelles.’ See Ducange (s.v. Merallus), EDD. (s.v. Nine, 1 (12)), and Nares (s.v.).
ningle, ‘ingle’; mine ingle became my ningle, my favourite. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, iv. 3 (Roderigo); Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, iii. 1 (Fustigo). See [ingle].
nip, a taunt, sarcasm, reproof. Puttenham, E. Poesie, bk. i, c. 27 (ed. Arber, p. 68). ‘Nip’ in prov. use means a pinch or squeeze; a bite or sting, see EDD. (s.v. Nip, sb.1 15, 16).
nip a bung, to steal a purse (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Trapdoor); ‘A pickpocket, as good as ever nipped the judge’s bung while he was condemning him’, The London Chanticleers, scene 1 (Heath); Cleveland (Nares); nip, a cutpurse, Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Moll). Hence nipper, ‘A nypper is termed a pickpurse or a cutpurse’, Fletewood (in Aydelotte, p. 95).
nip a jan, to steal a purse (Cant). B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed (Jackman). See Jan in NED.
nipitato, strong liquor; ‘A drink In England found, and Nipitato call’d, Which driveth all the sorrow from your hearts’, Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, iv. 2 (Pompiona). Hence, nippitate, strong (said of wine), Chapman, Alphonsus, iii. 1 (Collen). See Nares.
nis, is not. Spenser, Shep. Kal., June, 19. ME. nis (Chaucer). OE. nis, for ne is, is not.
niste, nist, knew not. Spelt nyst, Morte Arthur, leaf 339. 4; bk. xvi, c. 9. ME. niste (Chaucer, C. T. F. 502). OE. nyste, for ne wyste; wiste, pt. t. of witan, to know.
nithing, a vile coward; a term of severe reproach. Nithing, Blount’s Gloss.; spelt niding, Howell, Foreign Travell, sect. xviii (end); p. 79. Icel. nīðingr, legally the strongest term of abuse for a traitor, coward, or the like (Vigfusson).
no, used ironically; ‘No rich idolatry’ (i.e. great idolatry), Beaumont and Fl., Faithful Friends, iv. 3 (Learchus); ‘No villainy’ (i.e. great villainy), Mad Lover, iii. 6 (Chilax).
noble, a coin worth 6s. 8d. Richard II, i. 1. 88.
noblesse, noble birth or condition. Kyd, Cornelia, ii. 297; the nobility, persons of noble rank, ‘There is in every state . . . two portions of subjects; the Noblesse and the Commonaltie’, Bacon, Essay 15, § 13; Richard II, iv. 1. 119 (1st quarto only). ME. noblesse, nobleness, noble rank (Chaucer). F. noblesse, ‘nobility, gentry; gentlemanliness’ (Cotgr.).
nobley, great display, splendour. Morte Arthur, leaf 158, back, 8; bk. viii, c. 29; lf. 211, back, 32; bk. 10, c. 6. ME. nobley, nobility, dignity, splendour, noble rank; assembly of nobles (Chaucer). OF. noblei(e, nobility of rank or estate; Anglo-F. noblei, nobleness (Rough List).
nocent, harmful. Milton, P. L. ix. 186; guilty, Greene, James IV, v. 6 (Sir Cuthbert). L. nocens, hurtful, culpable.
nock, a notch at the end of a bow, or in the head of an arrow; ‘The nocke of the shafte’, Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. Arber, 127). Also, the cleft of the buttocks, Butler, Hud. i. 1. 285. Du. nock, ‘a notch in the head of an arrowe’ (Hexham). See Nares.
nock, (perhaps) a notch. The phr. much in my nock seems to mean ‘much in my line’, ‘very suitable for me’, Triumphs of Love and Fortune (last speech but one of Lentulo), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 242. So also beyond the nock, above or beyond measure, ‘He commendeth hym by yonde the nocke, Il le prise oultre bort, or oultre mesure’, Palsgrave.
noddy, a simpleton. Two Gent. i. 1. In gen. prov. use (EDD.).
noddy, a card-game. Heywood, Woman killed with Kindness (Wendell); B. Jonson, Love Restored (Plutus); Westward Ho, iv. 1 (Birdlime); Northward Ho, ii. 1 (Liverpool). See Nares.
nog, a kind of strong beer, brewed in East Anglia, esp. in Norfolk; ‘Walpole laid a quart of nog on’t’, Swift, Upon the Horrid Plot, &c., 31; ‘Here’s a Norfolk nog’, Vanbrugh, A Journey to London, i. 1 (John Moody). See EDD. (s.v. Nog(g)).
noise, a company of musicians, a band. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 13; Beaumont and Fl., Wit at several Weapons, iii. 1. 4. Common. The phrase Sneak’s noise (2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 13) is copied by Heywood, Iron Age (Thersites), vol. iii, p. 312.
nones: phr. for the nones = for then ones, for the once, for the occasion. Peele, Arr. of Paris, i. 1. 9; B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. i (Nano). See Dict. (s.v. Nonce).
nook-shotten, provided with capes and necks of land; ‘That nook-shotten isle of Albion’, Hen. V, iii. 5. 14. See the quotations in NED.
noonstead, the sun’s place at noon; the meridian. Spelt noonestede, Sackville, Induction, st. 7; ‘Now it nigh’d the noonstead of the day’, Drayton, Mooncalf (Nares). ‘Noonstead’ for the point of noon is known in north Yorks. (EDD).
nope, a bull-finch. Drayton, Pol. xiii. 74; ‘A Nope (bird), rubicilla’, Coles, 1679; ‘Chochepierre, a kind of nowpe or bullfinch that feeds on the kernels of cherri-stones’, Cotgrave. In prov. use. in various parts of England (EDD.). See [awbe].
noppe, nap of cloth. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 453. Du. noppe, nap (Hexham). See Dict. (s.v. Nap.2).
noppy, ‘nappy’ (as ale), having a head, strong. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 102. ‘Nappy’ is in gen. prov. use in England and Scotland (EDD.). See above.
nosel; see [nuzzle].
nose-thrilles, nostrils. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 75. 3; § 84. 2. OE. nosþyrel, nostril.
n’ot, know not. I not, I know not, Gascoigne, Complaint of Philomene, 114. ME. noot (not), 1 and 3 pr. s., I know not, he knows not (Chaucer); OE. nāt (for ne wāt).
notted, without horns; ‘A lamb . . . it is notted’ (footnote, without horns), Drayton, Muses’ Elysium, Nymphal ii, 87. In prov. use we find ‘notted’ (‘knotted’, ‘natted’) meaning hornless, gen. of sheep; also ‘not’, hornless, of sheep or cattle, see EDD. (s.v. Not, adj.).
nott-headed, having head with hair cropped short. Chapman, Widow’s Tears, i (Tharsalio); B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 3 (Preamble). ME. not-heed, a head with hair cropped short (Chaucer, C. T. A. 109); see Skeat’s Notes in Complete Edition. OE. hnot, bald-headed, close-cut (Sweet).
noulde, would not. Spenser, Shep. Kal., February, 192. ME. nolde (Chaucer); OE. nolde (for ne wolde).
noule; see [nowl].
nourry, a foster-child. Sir E. Wingfield, Letter to Wolsey (NED.); nourie, Turbervile, The Lover wisheth, &c., st. 4; noorie, id., Epit., &c., 60; id., Ovid’s Epistle, x (NED.) F. nourri, nourished, nurtured.
nousle up; See [nuzzle] (2).
novel, news; ‘The novell’, Heywood, Golden Age, A. iv (Jupiter); vol. iii, p. 55; Iron Age, Part II, A. ii (Soldier); p. 373. See Nares.
novum, an old game at dice, played by five or six persons, the principal throws being nine and five. L. L. L. v. 2. 547; ‘Change your game for dice; We are full number for Novum’, Cook, Greene’s Tu Quoque; in Ancient E. Drama, ii. 551, col. 1; spelt novem, A Woman never vexed, ii. 1. 5. The ‘full number’ in this company was six; the two principal throws were nine and five. The game was properly called novem quinque (Douce); see Nares.
nowl, the crown of the head; the head. Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 17; noule, Spenser, F. Q. vii. 7. 39. In prov. use (EDD.). OE. hnoll, the top, summit, crown of the head. See Dict. (s.v. Noule).
nowl, a blockhead. Jack Juggler, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 113.
nowle, a mole-hill. Tusser, Husbandry, § 36. 17.
nown, own. Mine own became my nown; hence his nowne = his own; Udall, Roister Doister, i. 1. 49. See Nares.
noy, annoyance, vexation. Peele, Sir Clyomon (ed. Dyce, pp. 522, 532); noy, to annoy, Spenser, F. Q. i. 11. 45; noyance, annoyance, id., i. 1. 23; noyous, troublesome (NED.). See Nares.
noyfull, harmful, disagreeable. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 24, § 2.
nuddle, to beat, to pummel. Rawlins, The Rebellion, iv. 1 (Trotter).
nuddock, the nape of the neck. Phaer, Aeneid vii, 742. ‘Nuddick’ is the Cornish word for the back of the neck, see EDD. (s.v. Niddick).
nullifidian, a man of no faith, a sceptic in matters of religion. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Perfumer).
numbles, certain inward parts of a deer; part of the back and loins of a hart; ‘Noumbles of a dere or beest, entrailles’, Palsgrave; Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 7; nomblis, Boke of St. Albans, fol. e 7 b. F. nombles d’un cerf, ‘the numbles of a stag’ (Cotgr.); OF. nomble (Godefroy). See Dict. And see [umbles].
numerical, particular, individual; ‘Not only of the specifical, but numerical forms’, Sir T. Browne, Rel. Med., pt. i, § 33. Also (with same or very) identical, ‘That very numerical lady’, Dryden, Marriage à la Mode, ii. 1 (Palamede); also in form numerick, ‘The same numerick crew’, Butler, Hud. i. 3. 461.
nup, a simpleton; ‘The vilest nup’, Brewer, Lingua, ii. 1 (end).
nupson, a simpleton. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum., iv. 6 (Brainworm); id., Devil an Ass, ii. 1 (Pug).
nursle, to nurse; ‘To have a Bastard . . . nursled i’ th’ Countrey’, Brome; Eng. Moor, iii. 3 (NED.); noursle up, to train up, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 4. 35. See [nuzzle].
nurt, nort, to push with the horns. Tusser, Husbandry, § 20. 28; nort, to push toward, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. viii, ch. 21. Nurt, possibly related to OF. hurter (F. heurter), to push.
nuzzle, to poke or push with the nose; ‘I nosyll as a swyne dothe, je fouille du museau’, Palsgrave spelt nousle, Venus and Ad. 1115; to nestle close to a person, Heywood, Pleas. Dial. (Wks., ed. 1874, vi. 201); Marston, What you will, iii. 2 (Albano). Cp. Du. neuselen, to poke with the nose (Kilian).
nuzzle, to train, educate, nurture (freq. with up). Marston, Antonio’s Revenge, Prol. 16; Drayton, Pol. xi. 180; nosel, Nice Wanton, Prol. 9, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 163; nousle up, Spenser, F. Q. i. 6. 23; noursle up, F. Q. vi. 4. 35; nuzled in, pp. trained in, Holinshed, Chron. iii. 1225 (NED.); nusled in, New Customs, iii. 1; Light of Gospel (in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iii. 44). See NED. See [nursle].
nycibecetour, a dainty dame, a fashionable girl; ‘Nycibecetours, or denty dames’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 120; nicibecetur, Roister Doister, i. 4. 12.
nye, to draw nigh, approach. Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 316; ‘We shall nyghe the towne’, Palsgrave, 644.
nyefe; see [neif].
†nysot, a wanton girl. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 1244. Not found elsewhere.