nixie

[nik-see]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nixie ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a letter or parcel that is undeliverable by the post office because of a faulty or illegible address.

Origin of nixie

First recorded in 1880–85; nix¹ + -ie

nixie

[nik-see]

noun German Folklore.

a female water spirit.

Origin of nixie

1810–20; < German Nixe (Middle High German nickese, Old High German nicchessa; see nix²), perhaps construed at time of borrowing as nix² + -ie

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for nixie

gremlin, gnome, demon, brownie, bogeyman, pixie, imp, fiend, spirit, sprite, kobold, nixie

Examples from the Web for nixie

Historical Examples of nixie

Her face was flushed and her nixie eyes were dancing to the mischief she contemplated.
An Orkney Maid
Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
Tom and Nixie departed, followed by praise from all the Wyndhams.
The Wyndam Girls
Marion Ames Taggart
Get into the house, Nixie, you crazy pup; you've lost your walk.
The Wyndam Girls
Marion Ames Taggart
"You mustn't let Nixie bother you; he'll try to be friendly," warned Tom.
The Wyndam Girls
Marion Ames Taggart
Tom—and Nixie, as a matter of course—were due at the apartment that afternoon.
The Wyndam Girls
Marion Ames Taggart

British Dictionary definitions for nixie

nixie

noun

German myth a female water sprite, usually unfriendly to humans

Word Origin for nixie

C19: see nix

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nixie

"water fairy," 1816 (introduced by Sir Walter Scott), from German Nixie, from Old High German nihhussa "water sprite," fem. of nihhus, from Proto-Germanic *nikwiz (cf. Old Norse nykr, Old English nicor "water spirit, water monster," also used to gloss hippopotamus; Grendel's mother in "Beowulf" was a nicor), perhaps from PIE *neigw- "to wash" (cf. Sanskrit nenkti "washes," Greek nizo "I wash," Old Irish nigid "washes").