nuisance English · revision 1377

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈnjuːsəns/ ''(UK)''; /ˈnusəns/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|xno|nusaunce]] and [[fro|nuisance|t=harm, damage]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from ''nuire'' “to harm”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from Vulgar Latin ''*nocere'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) from [[la|nocēre|t=to hurt]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It is related to [[noxious]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Injury, hurt or harm (about 1400).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that the sense has softened over time.^(Etymonline) It came to mean anything injurious to the community or to an owner of property, a legal sense (1464),^(OED 1989) then anything obnoxious such as bad smells or eyesores (1660s),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and from 1831 merely a source of annoyance.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It was applied to people from the 1690s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1400 – injury, harm.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1464 – something injurious to the community, in law.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1661 – anything offensive or obnoxious.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1695 – an annoying person.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1831 – a source of annoyance.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person or thing that is annoying or inconvenient; a [[pest]] or bother.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' A use of property or a course of conduct that harms others or interferes with their rights.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Harm or injury.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[attractive nuisance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[noxious]]

+ * [[innocuous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}