neat

neat · adjective, interjection, noun¹

1. Latin · derived fromnitidus“gleaming”
2. Old French · derived fromnet
3. Anglo-Norman · derived fromneit“good, desirable, clean”
4. Middle English · inherited fromnete
5. English todayneat

From Middle English nete, net, nette, from Anglo-Norman neit (“good, desirable, clean”), a variant of Old French net, nette (“clean, clear, pure”), from Latin nitidus (“gleaming”), derived from nitēre (“to shine”). Doublet of net and nitid. Cognate with German nett (“nice, kind”). Compare also nait.

neat · noun, noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*newd-“to acquire, make use of”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*nautą“foredeal, profit, property, livestock”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*naut
4. Old English · inherited fromnēat“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle”
5. Middle English · inherited fromnet
6. English todayneat

From Middle English net, neet, from Old English nēat (“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle”), from Proto-West Germanic *naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą (“foredeal, profit, property, livestock”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with Dutch noot (“cow, cattle”, in compounds), dialectal German Noß (“livestock”), Alemannic German Nooss (“young sheep or goat”), Swedish nöt (“cattle”), Icelandic naut (“cattle, bull”) and Faroese neyt (“cattle”). More at note.

Neat · proper noun³

1. Old English · derived fromneat
2. Middle English · derived fromneat“ox, cow”
3. English todayNeat

English metonymic occupational surname for a herdsman or a nickname for someone thought to resemble an ox or a cow, from Middle English neat (“ox, cow”), from Old English neat.

Words from the same roots