Everyday life

nice

Nice began as Latin nescius 'not knowing'; Spanish necio still means 'foolish', but in English it slid from 'foolish' to 'fussy', 'precise' and 'delicate' before settling, in the 1700s, on 'pleasant' — the sense Japanese and Korean borrowed.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Latin to Old Spanish, Spanish

From Latin to Portuguese

From Latin to Italian

From English to Japanese

From English to Korean

100 BCELatin

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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