Cleanness, l. 481, c. 1360.
In this sense the verb is obsolescent in the dialects, but it is still used in the sense of to walk with quick, short steps, to walk briskly and lightly, or mincingly. Probably this meaning is a development of the earlier uses of the verb in the phrase ‘to take one’s way’, and hence simply, to go, cp.:
Rys radly, he says, & rayke forth euen,
Nym þe way to nynyue, wyth-outen oþer speche.
Patience, ll. 65, 66, c. 1360.
ðanne he nimeð to kirke.
Bestiary, l. 93, c. 1250.
The standard adjective nimble is related to this old verb, so too is that apparently meaningless word nim in the old nursery rhyme said or sung to a baby on one’s knee:
The ladies they ride nim, nim, nim;
The gentlemen they ride trim, trim, trim;