nix
/nɪks/ noun, verb, interjection, proper noun
Forms nixes nixing nixed the Nix
- noun (colloquial) Nothing.
- verb To make something become nothing; to reject or cancel. “Nix the last order – the customer walked out.”
- verb To destroy or eradicate.
- interjection No! Not at all!
- interjection (obsolete) A warning cry when a policeman or schoolmaster etc. was seen approaching.
- noun A treacherous water-spirit
- proper noun (astronomy) One of the moons of Pluto (named 21 June 2006.)
- proper noun A surname originating as a patronymic.
- proper noun (soccer) Wellington Phoenix FC (a football club based in Wellington, New Zealand competing in the Australian A-League)
Synonyms
nada zip cancel reject Pluto III S 2005 P 2 Pluto III Nix nothing nil null aught cipher cypher goose egg naught zero zilch zippo forbid prohibit interdict proscribe veto disallow
Etymology
From German nix, colloquial form of nichts (“nothing”). Compare also Dutch niks (“nothing”), informal for niets (“nothing”). More at naught.
From German Nix, from Middle High German nickes, niches, from Old High German nichus, nihhus, from Proto-Germanic *nikwus (“water-spirit; nix”), from Proto-Indo-European *neygʷ- (“to wash”). Cognate with Old English nicor (“a water-monster; hippopotamus”) whence English nicker.
Named after the mother of Charon, goddess of darkness and night.
From Nick, diminutive of the given name Nicholas + patronymic suffix -s.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of a class of water spirits, commonly described as of a mischievous disposition.
Etymology [G. Cf. 1st Nick.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nix”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details