different between nesh vs neph

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??/
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Middle English nesh, nesch, nesche, from Old English hnes?e, hnys?e, hnæs?e (“soft, tender, mild; weak, delicate; slack, negligent; effeminate, wanton”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnaskw?, from Proto-Germanic *hnaskuz (“soft, tender”), from Proto-Indo-European *kn?s-, *kenes- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Cognate with Scots nesch, nesh (“soft, tender, yielding easily to pressure, sensitive”), Dutch nesch, nes (“wet, moist”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (hnasqus, “soft, tender, delicate”). Compare also nask, nasky, nasty.

Alternative forms

• nish (Newfoundland English)

Adjective

nesh (comparative nesher, superlative neshest)

1. (now Britain dialectal) Soft; tender; sensitive; yielding.
2. (now Britain dialectal) Delicate; weak; poor-spirited; susceptible to cold weather, harsh conditions etc.
   • 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, Chapter 4:

     And if he keeps the daughter so long at boarding-school, he'll make her as nesh as her mother was.

   • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Chapter 8:

     No, tha'd drop down stiff, as dead as a door-knob, wi' thy nesh sides.

3. (now Britain dialectal) Soft; friable; crumbly.

Usage notes

• This is a fairly widespread dialect term throughout Northern England, North Wales and the Midlands.

Derived terms

• neshen
• neshness

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English neschen, from Old English hnes?an, hnes?ian (“to make soft, soften; become soft, give way, waver”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnaskw?n (“to make soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *kn?s-, *kenes- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Cognate with Old High German nasc?n ("to nibble at, parasitise, squander"; > German naschen (“to nibble, pinch”)). Doublet of nosh.

Verb

nesh (third-person singular simple present neshes, present participle neshing, simple past and past participle neshed)

1. (transitive) To make soft, tender, or weak.
2. (intransitive, dialectal, Northern England) To act timidly.

Anagrams

• NHEs, Shen, hens

English

Etymology

Shortening.

Noun

neph (plural nephs)

1. Abbreviation of nephew.
2. (rare, slang) nephrologist
   • 2000 January 13, "seasons change" (username), Creatnine levels dropping, in alt.support.kidney-failure, Usenet:

     My nephs and dietition^[sic] are adamant against my taking anything […]

   • 2000 december 28, "Mara" (username), the denist and a tongue piercing, in rec.arts.bodyart, Usenet:

     My neph wants the oral surgeon to use nothing but Novacaine.

   • 2003 May 24, "Spot" (username), Sinus problems since transplant?, in bit.listserv.transplant, Usenet:

     Thanks for the information. My neph has a fit any time I mention going on something like this but I'm at the end of the line for this crap. Everytime I turn around it's another infection and a different stronger antibiotic.

Anagrams

• phen-