Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "nice" come from? It comes from Latin nescius, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "nice" come from? It comes from Latin nescius, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Nice’s story begins in Latin: nescius meant “ignorant.” 'ne-', not, plus 'scire', to know. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as nice. Meant foolish or naive. It reached English by 1300s as nice. Shifted through 'fussy' and 'precise' to 'pleasant' by the 1700s. Today, nice means pleasant; kind.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient nescius "ignorant", 'ne-', not, plus 'scire', to know.
- Stage 2 · Old French · medieval nice "silly, simple", meant foolish or naive.
- Stage 3 · English · 1300s nice "foolish", shifted through 'fussy' and 'precise' to 'pleasant' by the 1700s.