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].