niche

Pronunciation

• IPA: /niːʃ/, /nɪt͡ʃ/ (UK); /nɪt͡ʃ/, /niʃ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French niche (“recess, kennel”),^[2][3][4] perhaps from Italian nicchia (“niche, nook”), from nicchio (“seashell”), probably from Latin mitulus (“mussel”), though the change of m to n is unexplained.^[2][3] Others derive it from nichier (“to make a nest”), from Vulgar Latin *nīdicō, from Latin nīdus (“nest”) (see nest),^[4][5][6] which Etymonline finds also has difficulties.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A shallow recess in a wall, as for a statue: 1611, in Cotgrave's dictionary, in Barnhart and the OED, the 1610s in Etymonline;^[2][7][3] Merriam-Webster gives 1610.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A small vaulted recess or chamber is from 1662,^[7] and a natural recess in rock from 1856.^[7] The figurative sense, a place or position suited to a person, is first in Swift's To a Lady (1726), by 1725 in Etymonline.^[2][3] The ecological sense, the position of a plant or animal in its community, is from 1927.^[7][3] A specialized area of demand for a product, a niche market, is a later commercial use.^[8][9] The verb is from 1753.^[5]

Timeline

• 1611 – a recess in a wall.^[2][7]
• 1662 – a vaulted chamber.^[7]
• 1726 – a suitable position.^[2]
• 1753 – to niche (verb).^[5]
• 1927 – an ecological niche.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A shallow recess in a wall, as for a statue or ornament.
2. A position or role that suits someone well: she found her niche.
3. A specialized but profitable segment of a market.
4. (ecology) The role or position of an organism in its environment.

Adjective

1. Aimed at a small specialized group: a niche market.

Word family

• econiche

Related words

• nest
• nidus
• nook
• alcove

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins