Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nice” come from?

Nice comes from Middle English nyce, from Latin nescius meaning "ignorant," derived from the prefix ne- meaning "not" and the Proto-Indo-European root ne.

nice (English): Pleasant, satisfactory; Of a person: friendly,...

Definitions

  1. Pleasant, satisfactory; Of a person: friendly,...

Ancestry of “nice”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishnysAlternative form of nyce
2Middle Englishnycefoolish, simple, ignorant, naive; scared, weak,...
3Old Frenchnicesimple, foolish
4Latinnesciusunaware, ignorant; not knowing how, unable
5Latinnesciō—
6Latinsciō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeansḱēy-to shine; to shimmer; shadow; luster, gloss,...
8Proto-Germanicskaidąseparation, distinction
9Proto-Indo-EuropeanskÁit-to cut, part, spearate, divide; to cut, part,...

Words derived from “nice”

  • nicely
  • niceness
  • renice
  • overnice
  • Niceville
  • niceish
  • overniceness
  • supernice
  • unnice
  • nicen
  • overnicely
  • nice-but-dim
  • outnice
  • seminice
  • underniceness
  • unniceness
  • nicery
  • niceling
  • ナイス
  • ナイスショット
  • næs
  • naispela
Every word from Proto-Indo-European skÁit- →