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Thein lwin Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

vocabulary

Is it true that 'nice' once meant 'silly'?If so, why? Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

nice, adj. ) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see un -) + stem of scire "to know" (see science ). ); to "dainty, delicate" (c.

— Cool Breeze

  • nice, adj.
  • ) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see un -) + stem of scire "to know" (see science ).
  • ); to "dainty, delicate" (c.
  • 1400); to "precise, careful" (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to "agreeable, delightful" (1769); to "kind, thoughtful" (1830).
  • In many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken.
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1 Answers
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nice, adj.
late 13c., "foolish, stupid, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see
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