[NUT, s. Hind. nath, Skt. nastā, 'the nose.' The nose-ring worn by Indian women.
[1819.—"An old fashioned nuth or nose-ring, stuck full of precious or false stones."—Trans. Lit. Soc. Bo. i. 284.
[1832.—"The nut (nose-ring) of gold wire, on which is strung a ruby between two pearls, worn only by married women."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Obsns. i. 45.]
NUT PROMOTION, s. From its supposed indigestible character, the kernel of the [cashew]-nut is so called in S. India, where, roasted and hot, it is a favourite dessert dish. [See Linschoten, Hak. Soc. ii. 28.]
NUZZER, s. Hind. from Ar. naẓr or nazar (prop. nadhr), primarily 'a vow or votive offering'; but, in ordinary use, a ceremonial present, properly an offering from an inferior to a superior, the converse of in'ām. The root is the same as that of Nazarite (Numbers, vi. 2).
[1765.—"The congratulatory nazirs, &c., shall be set opposite my ordinary expenses; and if ought remains, it shall go to Poplar, or some other hospital."—Letter of Ld. Clive, Sept. 30, in Verelst, View of Bengal, 127.
[c. 1775.—"The Governor lays before the board two bags ... which were presented to him in nizzers...."—Progs. of Council, quoted by Fox in speech against W. Hastings, in Bond, iv. 201.]
1782.—"Col. Monson was a man of high and hospitable household expenses; and so determined against receiving of presents, that he would not only not touch a nazier (a few silver rupees, or perhaps a gold mohor) always presented by [country] gentlemen, according to their rank...."—Price's Tracts, ii. 61.
1785.—"Presents of ceremony, called nuzzers, were to many a great portion of their subsistence...."—Letter in Life of Colebrooke, 16.
1786.—Tippoo, even in writing to the French Governor of Pondichery, whom it was his interest to conciliate, and in acknowledging a present of 500 muskets, cannot restrain his insolence, but calls them "sent by way of nuzr."—Select Letters of Tippoo, 377.