nit

¹

[nit]

noun

1. the egg of a parasitic insect, especially of a louse, often attached to a hair or a fiber of clothing.

2. the young of such an insect.

nit

²

[nit]

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a nitwit.

nit

³

[nit]

noun

Physics.

1. a unit of luminous intensity equal to one candela per square meter. nt

nit

¹

/ nɪt /

noun

1. the egg of a louse, especially when adhering to human hair

2. the larva of a louse or similar insect

nit

²

/ nɪt /

noun

1. a unit of luminance equal to 1 candela per square metre

nit

³

/ nɪt /

noun

1. informal,  short for nitwit

nit

⁴

/ nɪt /

noun

1. Also called: nepit. a unit of information equal to 1.44 bits

nit

⁵

/ nɪt /

noun

1. informal,  to keep watch, esp during illegal activity

Word History and Origins

Origin of nit¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English nite, nete, nette, Old English hnitu, cognate with Dutch neet, German Niss, Old Icelandic gnit, Norwegian gnett; akin to Welsh nedd, Polish gnida, Greek konís (stem konid- ), from Proto-Indo-European root knid- “egg of a louse”

Origin of nit²

First recorded in 1590–1600; perhaps from nit ¹ ( def. ); perhaps from nit(wit) ( def. )

Origin of nit³

First recorded in 1950–55; from French, extracted from Latin nitor “brightness, splendor”; nitid, -or ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of nit¹

Old English hnitu; related to Dutch neet, Old High German hniz

Origin of nit²

C20: from Latin nitor brightness

Origin of nit³

C20: from N ( apierian dig ) it

Origin of nit⁴

C19: from _nix ¹

Example Sentences

Jimmy struggles to tell Alice and in a darkly humourous moment, blurting out, "Speaking of cars, do you remember what happened to your mom in one? Godd**nit!"

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I don’t have much to offer in the way of critical analysis, or picked nits.

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According to the AAP “no healthy child or adolescent should be excluded from school or allowed to miss school time because of head lice or nits.”

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“There’s a reason why we have had pasteurization for over 100 years —nit works.”

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His hair was tangled into greasy locks, infested by nits.

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Related Words

• bug 
• insect 

When To Use

What does nit mean?

Nits are the eggs or young of small parasitic insects, most commonly lice. They are especially called this when they are attached to hair.Nit is the basis of the word nitpick. Nit is also used as an insult referring to a stupid person, though in this case it’s a shortening of the word nitwit, which may or may not be related.Example: Your scalp won’t be free of lice until you remove all the nits.