different between nerve vs grit

English

Etymology

Recorded since circa 1374, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /n?v/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /n??v/
• (NYC) IPA^(key): /n??v/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /n??v/
• Rhymes: -??(?)v

Noun

nerve (plural nerves)

1. A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.

   Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:nerve

2. (nonstandard, colloquial) A neuron.
3. (botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood

4. Courage, boldness.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:courage

   • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille (in The Guardian, 26 November 2013)[2]

     A trip to the whistling, fire-cracking Stadio San Paolo is always a test of nerve but Wenger's men have already outplayed the Italians once.

5. Patience.

6. Stamina, endurance, fortitude.
7. Audacity, gall.

   Synonyms: brashness, brazenness, balls; see also Thesaurus:courage
8. (polymer technology) The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.

   A nervy tank lining will be difficult to lay around tight bends or in corners because it tends to spring back.

   • 1959, Newell A Perry, Eric O Ridgway, US patent US2870103 A[3]

     The nerviness (ability to recover quickly from strain or stretching) ... generally requires it to be broken down or masticated on the mill before the other compounding ingredients are added. In the break-down operation, heat is inherently generated by the sheer action of the milling or mixing equipment on the polymer. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the desired low temperatures during the milling or mixing... An object of this invention is to reduce the inherent nerve of ... polymers ... during break-down.

9. (in the plural) Agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotion.

10. (obsolete) Sinew, tendon.
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2

      Come on; obey: / Thy nerves are in their infancy again, / And have no vigour in them.

    • 1725, Alexander Pope. Pope's Homer: Odyssey Book X [4]

      Whilst thus their fury rages at the bay,
      My sword our cables cut, I call'd to weigh,
      And charg'd my men, as they from fate would fly,
      Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

nerve (third-person singular simple present nerves, present participle nerving, simple past and past participle nerved)

1. (transitive) To give courage.

   May their example nerve us to face the enemy.

2. (transitive) To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.

   The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used with “up”.

Synonyms

• (give strength): See also Thesaurus:strengthen

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Verne, erven, never

Dutch

Noun

nerve f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)

1. Obsolete form of nerf.

Anagrams

• erven, reven, veren

French

Verb

nerve

1. first-person singular present indicative of nerver
2. third-person singular present indicative of nerver
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of nerver
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of nerver
5. second-person singular imperative of nerver

German

Pronunciation

Verb

nerve

1. inflection of nerven:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Latin

Noun

nerve

1. vocative singular of nervus

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????? (neûron), and Latin nervus

Noun

nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nerver, definite plural nervene)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• isjiasnerve
• nervecelle
• nervesystem

References

“nerve” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????? (neûron), and Latin nervus

Noun

nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nervar, definite plural nervane)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• isjiasnerve
• nervecelle
• nervesystem

References

• “nerve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Etymology 1

With early modern vowel shortening, from Middle English grete, griet, from Old English gr?ot, from Proto-Germanic *greut? (compare German Grieß, Swedish gryta, Norwegian Nynorsk grjot), from Proto-Indo-European *g?r-eu-d- (compare Lithuanian grúodas (“frost; frozen street dirt”), Serbo-Croatian gr?da (“lump”)).

Noun

grit (uncountable)

1. A collection of hard small materials, such as dirt, ground stone, debris from sandblasting or other such grinding, or swarf from metalworking.
   1. Sand or a sand–salt mixture spread on wet and, especially, icy roads and footpaths to improve traction.
2. Inedible particles in food.

3. A measure of the relative coarseness of an abrasive material such as sandpaper, the smaller the number the coarser the abrasive.

4. (geology) A hard, coarse-grained siliceous sandstone; gritstone. Also, a finer sharp-grained sandstone, e.g., grindstone grit.
5. Strength of mind; great courage or fearlessness; fortitude.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of C. Reade to this entry?)

Derived terms

• gritten
• gritty

Related terms

• grind
• grindstone
• sand, sandy, sandblasting

Translations

See also

• debris
• mortar and pestle
• swarf

Verb

grit (third-person singular simple present grits, present participle gritting, simple past and past participle gritted or (nonstandard) grit)

1. Apparently only in grit one's teeth: to clench, particularly in reaction to pain or anger.

2. To cover with grit.
3. (obsolete, intransitive) To give forth a grating sound, like sand under the feet; to grate; to grind.
   • 1767, Oliver Goldsmith, The Hermit

     The sanded |floor that grits beneath the tread.

Derived terms

• grit one's teeth

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English gryt (“bran, chaff”), from Old English grytt, from Proto-Germanic *grutj? (“coarsely ground bits”) (compare Dutch grut, German Grütze), ablaut variant of Proto-Indo-European *g?r-eu-d-. See above.

Noun

grit (plural grits)

1. (usually in the plural) Husked but unground oats.
2. (usually in the plural) Coarsely ground corn or hominy used as porridge.

Related terms

• groat
• grout
• gruel

Translations

Anagrams

• girt, trig

Scots

Adjective

grit (comparative mair grit, superlative maist grit)

1. great