Nice

Nice
Recorded in several spelling forms including Nice, Nise, and Niche, this is an English medieval surname. Recent research suggests that the origin is from the 14th century word 'nice', and that it developed as a nickname surname, not for somebody that was 'nice' in the modern sense, but the reverse, somebody who was a bit of clown! It is curious how words can in their life time over the centuries change their meaning completely. 'Nice' is one example whilst 'bold' is another. In the medieval times to be called 'bold' would be to suggest that others should be careful in their dealings with you, a meaning which is still followed to some extent in Ireland in the 20th century. With this name there is another possible origin, and that is as a developed form of the pre 7th century Olde English word 'nich', meaning a nook or corner, and hence somebody who lived at such a place. The earliest recording would seem to be that of Simon atte Nych of Somerset in the year 1327, whilst one George Nice was an early settler in the British colony of Barbados. He was recorded as being buried there on May 2nd 1679.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • nice — W2S1 [naıs] adj ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(good)¦ 2¦(friendly)¦ 3¦(something you want)¦ 4 it s nice to know (that) 5 have a nice day! 6 nice to meet you 7 (it s been) nice meeting/talking to you 8¦(not nice)¦ 9 nice try 10 ni …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Nice — (n[imac]s), a. [Compar. {Nicer} (n[imac] s[ e]r); superl. {Nicest}.] [OE., foolish, fr. OF. nice ignorant, fool, fr. L. nescius ignorant; ne not + scius knowing, scire to know. Perhaps influenced by E. nesh delicate, soft. See {No}, and {Science} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • NICE — Chef lieu du département des Alpes Maritimes, Nice est , avec 345 675 habitants en 1990 (516 740 pour la conurbation), l’une des grandes villes françaises. Mais elle est la seule qui doive sa rapide croissance à la fonction touristique fondée ici …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • nice — [ naıs ] adjective *** ▸ 1 attractive/enjoyable ▸ 2 friendly/kind ▸ 3 for showing you like something ▸ 4 with small difference ▸ 5 skillful ▸ 6 with high moral standard ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) attractive, enjoyable, or pleasant: Your hair looks nice.… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • nice´ly — nice «nys», adjective, nic|er, nic|est, adverb. –adj. 1. that is good or pleasing; agreeable; satisfactory: »a nice face, a nice child, a nice ride, a nice day …   Useful english dictionary

  • NICE — (Heb. ניצה), capital of the Alpes Maritimes department, on the Mediterranean coast of France. The first specific mention of Jews can be found in the Statutes of Nice, enacted in 1342 while the town belonged to Provence, which compelled the Jews… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • nice — The word nice is the great cause célèbre of meaning change in English. In medieval and Renaissance literature, nice (derived from Latin nescius meaning ‘ignorant’) has a wide range of generally unfavourable meanings such as ‘foolish, stupid’ and… …   Modern English usage

  • Nice — Эта статья об утилите Unix; о британской прогрессив рок группе конца 1960 х см.: The Nice. nice  UNIX утилита, запускающая программу с измененным приоритетом для планировщика задач. Если не указано ни одного аргумента, команда nice выводит… …   Википедия

  • nice — 1 Nice, dainty, fastidious, finicky, finicking, finical, particular, fussy, squeamish, persnickety, pernickety can all mean exacting or displaying exacting standards (as in selection, judgment, or workmanship). Nice (see also CORRECT, DECOROUS)… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Nice — puede referirse a: Contenido 1 Lugares 2 Música 2.1 Grupos 2.2 Discos 3 Otros …   Wikipedia Español

  • NICE — ist der englische Name der südfranzösischen Stadt Nizza der Name der Musikgruppe The Nice das englische Wort für nett die Programmiersprache Nice (Programmiersprache) einen Unix Befehl, der das Prioritätsscheduling eines Prozesses verändern kann… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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