Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

nit

/nɪt/ noun

In Latin: lēns Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nit at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A luminance unit equal to 1 candle per square meter measured perpendicular to the rays from the source.
Egg or young of an insect parasitic on mammals especially a sucking louse; often attached to a hair or item of clothing.

Origin

From Middle English nite, from Old English hnitu, from Proto-Germanic *hnits (compare Dutch neet, German Nisse, Norwegian nit), from Proto-Indo-European *-níd- (compare Scottish Gaelic sneadh, Lithuanian gli̇̀nda, Polish gnida, Albanian thëri, Ancient Greek κονίς (konís)).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word