nit
1 Americannoun
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the egg of a parasitic insect, especially of a louse, often attached to a hair or a fiber of clothing.
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the young of such an insect.
noun
noun
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the egg of a louse, especially when adhering to human hair
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the larva of a louse or similar insect
noun
noun
noun
noun
Usage
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.
Etymology
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”; see nitid, -or 1
Explanation
A nit is a louse egg. If your scalp is extra itchy, get someone (maybe even a "nitpicker" to check you for nits. There's no getting around the fact that nits are pretty gross — they're basically baby lice. Nits can be tricky to spot on an infested person's scalp, because they're smaller than a grain of rice and a very pale color. Colloquially, to "nit pick" is to find and criticize someone's faults, no matter how tiny they might be. Another, less disgusting kind of nit is a scientific term for an amount of light emitted.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the Surge’s bylaws are clear that no nit be left unpicked, and so we have to quibble with his framing.
From Slate • Jan. 17, 2026
Thairo Estrada nit a double that scored Davis with one out and preceded Bart’s two-run double.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 15, 2022
It features a bright 700 nit 5.5-inch built-in screen that eliminates the need for a phone.
From The Verge • May 10, 2022
The nit he chose to pick was the number 4, which Vick had rendered as IV.
From Washington Post • Dec. 11, 2021
Thou liest, thou thread, thou thimble, Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail, Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter cricket thou; Braved in my own house by a skein of thread!
From Tolstoy on Shakespeare A Critical Essay on Shakespeare by Chertkov, V. G. (Vladimir Grigorevich)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
