nithing
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nithing
- /ˈnaɪðɪŋ/ US, UK
Where it comes from
From Middle English nithing, nithinc, nything, nythyng, nythynge, niþinge, nyþing, nyþyng, Early Middle English niðing, niþinc, niþincke (“coward, wretch; good-for-nothing; term of address for a boy or lad; stingy or miserly person; niggardly, miserly, stingy”), from Late Old English nithing, Old English niðing, nīþing (“coward; wretch; outlaw, villain”), from a North Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *nīþą (“envy; hate; malice”) (from Proto-Indo-European *neyH- (“to be angry”)) + *-ingō, *-ungō (suffix forming gerund nouns from verbs).
The English word is cognate with Danish nidding, Late Latin nidingus, nithingus, Middle High German nīdinc, nīdunc (modern German Neiding (“(archaic) one who is envious”)), Old Norse níðingr (Icelandic níðingur (“scoundrel, rascal”), Norwegian niding), Old Swedish nīþinger (modern Swedish niding).
noun nithings · niding
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A coward, a dastard; a wretch.
[W]hen there was a daungerous rebellion againſt King William Rufus and Rocheſter Caſtle then the moſt important & ſtrongeſt fort of this Realm was ſtowtly kept againſt him, after that he had but proclaimed that his ſubjects ſhould repaire thither to his Campe, vpon no other penaltie, but that whoſoe
Similar: nidering, niddering, bottler, caitiff, candy-ass, candy-arse, coistril, coward, chicken, chicken liver, chickenshit, cocktail
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A wicked person; also, one who has acted immorally or unlawfully.
And for the moment, though he [Sweyn II of Denmark] escaped as usual to Baldwin [V, Count of Flanders]'s land and dwelt at Bruges, he was solemnly proclaimed a nithing or vile person (the most ignominious term in the Teutonic vocabulary) by the whole host, with the king, his brother-in-law, at their
Similar: antimodel, bad guy, baddie, bastard, beggar, blackguard, bounder, cad, cockatrice, coistril, evildoer, fustilarian
adjective more nithing · most nithing · niding
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Cowardly, dastardly.
In Denmark, and through all the North, they provoked a man to fight a duel, by publicly calling him Niding or "infamous†:" for he who had received ſo deep a ſtain, without endeavouring to waſh it out with the blood of his adverſary, would have loſt much more than the life he was ſo deſirous to ſave.
Similar: nidering, niddering, backboneless, base, soft, bitch-ass, boneless, caitiff, candy-assed, chicken, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered
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Notoriously evil or wicked; infamous.
If a man breaks into another man's house to attack him and kill him, that shall be called a nithing crime. It is a nithing crime if a man slays one to whom he has given pledges of safety. [...] And in every case when a man is [found] guilty of a nithing crime he shall depart as an outlaw who has for
Similar: nidering, niddering, abandoned, arrant, bad, bad apple, bad seed, baleful, scurrilous, baneful, base, black-hearted
Talk about this word "nithing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nithing. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. nithing. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nithing "nithing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nithing.Cite this
@misc{nithing_2026,
title = {nithing},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nithing},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
