nigh

From Middle English neygh, nygh, nye, nyȝ, from Old English nēah, nēh, from Proto-West Germanic *nāhw, from Proto-Germanic *nēhw.

Cognate with Saterland Frisian nai (“near”), West Frisian nei (“near, close by”), Dutch na (“close, near”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”). See also near.

• IPA^(key): /naɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

nigh (comparative nigher or more nigh or near, superlative nighest or most nigh or next)

1. (archaic, poetic) Near, close by, almost, all but.

   The end is nigh!

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311:

     For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.

   • a. 1831, Ludovico Ariosto, William Stewart Rose (translator), Orlando Furioso, 2006, Echo Library, page 185,

     He at his head took aim who stood most nigh;

   • 1831, John Knox, The History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland, page 421:

     By these and many histories more, it is most evident, that the more nigh salvation and deliverance approach, the more vehement is temptation and trouble.

   • 1834, Davy Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, page 197:

     The enemy, somewhat imboldened, draws nigher to the fort.

   • 1889, House of Commons of Canada, Debates: Official Report, volume 2, page 1408:

     You then went to St. Andrews, the nighest ocean port.

   • 2020 May 20, John Crosse, “Soon to be gone... but never forgotten”, in Rail, page 63, photo caption:

     The end is nigh (or at least it was supposed to be), but the Pacers in northern England kept plugging away providing a service while awaiting the much-delayed arrival of their replacements.

   • 2020, Keith Getty, Matt Boswell, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, Matt Papa, “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”‎^[1]Getty Music Publishing (BMI) / Messenger Hymns (BMI) / Matthew Merker Music (BMI) / Jordan Kauflin Music (BMI) / Getty Music Hymns and Songs (ASCAP) / Love Your Enemies Publishing (ASCAP):

     Who sends the waves that bring us nigh / Unto the shore, the rock of Christ?

2. Not remote in degree, kindred, circumstances, etc.; closely allied; intimate.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 2:13:

     Ye […] are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

• Near was originally the comparative form of nigh; the superlative form was next. Nigh is used today mostly in archaic, poetic, or regional contexts.

• (near): close, near; see also Thesaurus:near

• nighen
• nigh-hand
• nigh on
• nighness

nigh (third-person singular simple present nighs, present participle nighing, simple past and past participle nighed)

1. (ambitransitive) to draw nigh (to); to approach; to come near
   • 1924, Thomas Hardy, He Resolves to Say No More:

     When the charnel-eyed Pale Horse has nighed

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:nigh.

• ny (obsolete)

nigh (not comparable)

1. Almost, nearly.
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. […] It looked like a tomb and smelt pretty nigh as musty and dead-and-gone.

   • 2017 July 16, Brandon Nowalk, “Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[2]:

     Hell of a surprise in the seventh season premiere of Game Of Thrones. Arya Stark, fresh off a nigh Cersei-level ambush of the Frey household, comes upon a small campfire surrounded by fresh-faced red cloaks.

• Nigh is sometimes used as a combining form.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:nigh.

nigh

1. near; close to
   • 1661-5, Thomas Salusbury (translator), Galileo Galilei, Dialogue concerning the Two Chief World Systems, 1632

     When the Moon is horned […] is it not ever nigh the Sun?

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     The cottage stood nigh the burn, in a little garden, with lilyoaks and grosart bushes lining the pathway.

• Hing, hing, inHg

From Middle Irish nigid (“to wash”).^[1]

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /nʲiɟ/^[2]
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): (imperative) /n̠ʲi(j)/^[3], (past) /nʲi(j)/^[4][5]
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): (imperative) /n̠ʲi(ː)/^[6]; (past) /nʲiː/^[7], /n̠ʲiː/^[6]

nigh (present analytic níonn, future analytic nífidh, verbal noun ní, past participle nite)

1. (ambitransitive) to wash

• níochán m (“(act of) washing; wash, laundry; clothes washed or to be washed”)

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1927) “niġim”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 2nd edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 797; reprinted with additions 1996, →ISBN
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “nigh”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ɲiː/

From Middle Irish nigid (“he washes”). Compare English nixie (“water sprite”), Ancient Greek νίζω (nízō)).

nigh (past nigh, future nighidh, verbal noun nighe, past participle nighte)

1. wash, cleanse, purify
2. bathe

nigh f (genitive singular nighe)

1. daughter
2. niece

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “nigh”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[3], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “nigid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language