nest

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nɛst/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English nest (“bird's nest, snug retreat”),^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *nistaz^[2][3] (source also of Dutch nest and German Nest, but not found in Scandinavian or Gothic),^[3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *nizdo-,^[3][4] source also of Latin nidus, Old Irish net, Welsh nyth, Old Church Slavonic гнѣздо (gnězdo) and Sanskrit नीड (nīḍa, “resting place, nest”).^[3][2][4] It is a compound of *ni, down (as in nether), and *sed-, to sit (see sit),^[4][5] so that a nest was originally a sitting-down place.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bird's nest; a snug retreat: about 750, in The Phoenix, in Barnhart, about 950 in the OED.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Old English nest also meant a young bird or brood.^[3] A place where a person finds rest or a home is from before 1000,^[7] and a lair or abode of animals or insects from 1386.^[7] A place where something is lodged is from 1589,^[7] and a set of similar objects, such as boxes or tables fitting one inside another, from the 16th century.^[4] The verb replaced Old English nistan, to build or live in a nest;^[4][3] it is from the 13th century.^[4][8] The related nestle first meant to build a nest, and took on its modern sense in the 16th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 750 – a bird's nest.^[2]
• before 1000 – a place of rest.^[7]
• 13th century – the verb.^[8]
• 1386 – a lair of animals.^[7]
• 16th century – a set of objects.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A structure made by a bird to hold its eggs and young.
2. A similar place where fish, insects or other animals lay eggs or keep their young.
3. A snug place of refuge; a home.
4. A place that fosters something bad, or the people in it: a nest of thieves.
5. A set of things of graduated sizes that fit inside one another.

Verb

1. To build or occupy a nest.
2. To fit or stack things one inside another.

Word family

• nestable
• nester
• nestlike
• nesty
• nestle
• crow's-nest
• mare's-nest
• bird's nest

Related words

• nestling
• nidus
• nether
• sit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster