See nicety in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for nicety meaning in English (5.2kB)
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "social nicety"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "to a nicety"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "nicetee"
},
"expansion": "Middle English nicetee",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "niceté",
"4": "",
"5": "simpleness, foolishness"
},
"expansion": "Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "nice",
"3": "",
"4": "simple, foolish"
},
"expansion": "nice (“simple, foolish”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "nice",
"3": "ty"
},
"expansion": "nice + -ty",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English nicetee, from Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), from nice (“simple, foolish”); equivalent to nice + -ty.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "niceties",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~"
},
"expansion": "nicety (countable and uncountable, plural niceties)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "We met the new captain while we were taking enemy fire and were unable to observe the niceties of formal introductions."
},
{
"ref": "1872, Richard Grant White, Words and Their Uses, Past and Present, page 326",
"text": "\"But,\" the writer, Dr. Beattie, adds, \"this is a needless nicety, and, if adopted, would introduce a confusion into the grammatical art. {...}\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A small detail or distinction."
],
"id": "en-nicety-en-noun-NF1RKC8W",
"links": [
[
"detail",
"detail"
],
[
"distinction",
"distinction"
]
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "iztǎnčenost",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "изтънченост"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"word": "考究"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "xìjié",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"word": "细节"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"word": "délicatesse"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "beaichte"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cruinneas"
},
{
"_dis1": "76 8 6 10",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "detálʹ",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "дета́ль"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "4 51 40 5",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "11 48 29 12",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms suffixed with -ty",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 210",
"text": "[W]e cannot judge with exact nicety whether the hunter or the hunted has the greater dash of toe.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "A rocket-propelled grenade doesn't have the nicety of a sniper round, but you must admit its effectiveness."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Subtlety or precision of use; exactness; preciseness."
],
"id": "en-nicety-en-noun-W1UDGjIB",
"links": [
[
"Subtlety",
"subtle"
],
[
"precision",
"precision"
]
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "1 91 5 3",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
"word": "subtilité"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 91 5 3",
"alt": "びみょう",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "bimyō",
"sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
"word": "微妙"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 91 5 3",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tóčnostʹ",
"sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "то́чность"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 18",
"text": "[I]f you knew how Selina feels with respect to sleeping at an inn, you would not wonder at Mrs. Churchill’s making incredible exertions to avoid it. Selina says it is quite horror to her—and I believe I have caught a little of her nicety.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Delicacy of character or feeling usually from excessive refinement; fastidiousness"
],
"id": "en-nicety-en-noun-ugo7JGb9",
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"glosses": [
"That which is delicate to the taste."
],
"id": "en-nicety-en-noun-RKbdTiL9",
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete) That which is delicate to the taste."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"obsolete",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈnaɪsɪti/"
},
{
"audio": "En-us-nicety.oga",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga/En-us-nicety.oga.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "nicety"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from Middle English",
"English terms derived from Old French",
"English terms inherited from Middle English",
"English terms suffixed with -ty",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English uncountable nouns"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "social nicety"
},
{
"word": "to a nicety"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "nicetee"
},
"expansion": "Middle English nicetee",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "niceté",
"4": "",
"5": "simpleness, foolishness"
},
"expansion": "Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "nice",
"3": "",
"4": "simple, foolish"
},
"expansion": "nice (“simple, foolish”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "nice",
"3": "ty"
},
"expansion": "nice + -ty",
"name": "suffix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English nicetee, from Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), from nice (“simple, foolish”); equivalent to nice + -ty.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "niceties",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~"
},
"expansion": "nicety (countable and uncountable, plural niceties)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "We met the new captain while we were taking enemy fire and were unable to observe the niceties of formal introductions."
},
{
"ref": "1872, Richard Grant White, Words and Their Uses, Past and Present, page 326",
"text": "\"But,\" the writer, Dr. Beattie, adds, \"this is a needless nicety, and, if adopted, would introduce a confusion into the grammatical art. {...}\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A small detail or distinction."
],
"links": [
[
"detail",
"detail"
],
[
"distinction",
"distinction"
]
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 210",
"text": "[W]e cannot judge with exact nicety whether the hunter or the hunted has the greater dash of toe.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "A rocket-propelled grenade doesn't have the nicety of a sniper round, but you must admit its effectiveness."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Subtlety or precision of use; exactness; preciseness."
],
"links": [
[
"Subtlety",
"subtle"
],
[
"precision",
"precision"
]
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 18",
"text": "[I]f you knew how Selina feels with respect to sleeping at an inn, you would not wonder at Mrs. Churchill’s making incredible exertions to avoid it. Selina says it is quite horror to her—and I believe I have caught a little of her nicety.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Delicacy of character or feeling usually from excessive refinement; fastidiousness"
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with obsolete senses"
],
"glosses": [
"That which is delicate to the taste."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete) That which is delicate to the taste."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"obsolete",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈnaɪsɪti/"
},
{
"audio": "En-us-nicety.oga",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga/En-us-nicety.oga.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "iztǎnčenost",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "изтънченост"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"word": "考究"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "xìjié",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"word": "细节"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"word": "délicatesse"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "beaichte"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cruinneas"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "detálʹ",
"sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "дета́ль"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
"word": "subtilité"
},
{
"alt": "びみょう",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "bimyō",
"sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
"word": "微妙"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tóčnostʹ",
"sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "то́чность"
}
],
"word": "nicety"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.