nice 
Why, brother, wherefore stand you on nice point*? 
.VArtt., :t lien. VI., Iv. 7. .18. 
I have now Mild all that I could think convenient ]*<, 
so mVr ami' 
.xv iji, Sentiment! of a Ch. of Eng. Man, II. 
II is H met question t*> decide how far history may be. 
:nliiiiitril illt poelry; like " A'Misoll's Campaign," the 
|XM<III ui:i> rn>] in .1 rhymed gazette. 
/. D'fnriKli, Amen, of Ut,, II. 249. 
7. prliriitr; soft; tender to excess; hence, 
i-iisily iuflueuced or injured. 
< onscience is really a nice and tender thing, and ought 
Tiot to be handled roughly and severely. 
Ktillingfeet, Sermon*, HI. xlll. 
With how much ease Is a young Muse betray'd ! 
How nice the reputation of the maid ! 
Roscommon, On Translated Verse. 
8f. Modest ; coy ; reserved. 
Dear love, continue nice and chaste. Donne, Song. 
They were neither nice nor coy. 
KMn Hoott arj the Tanner (Child's Ballads, V. 229). 
9. Pleasant or agreeable to the senses; deli- 
cate; tender; sweet; delicious; dainty: as, a 
nice bit; a nice tint. 
Sweet-breads and cock's combs . . . are very nice. 
C. Johmtone, Chrysal, II. II. 
10. Pleasing or agreeable in general, (a) Elegant 
or tasteful; affording or fitted to afford pleasure; pleas- 
ing; pleasant: often used with some implication of con- 
tempt. 
Thou studlest aftyr nyce aray. 
And maklHt greet cost in clothing. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. 1'urnlvall), p. 178. 
I Intend to dine with Mrs. Borgrave, and in the evening 
take a nice walk. 
Miss Carter, Letters to Mrs. Montagu (1769), II. 34. 
Miss Brown's is a pretty book, written In very nice Ameri- 
can, about two charming girls who went to college. 
Athenantm, No. 3087, p. 172. 
((>) Agreeable; pleasant; good: applied to persons. [Col- 
loq.J 
"Not?tcof Master Enoch, "said Dick. . . . "Youmustn't 
blame un," said Geoffrey. . . . " When he 'shad a gallon of 
elder . . . his manners be as good as anybody's." 
T. Hardy, Under the Greenwood Tree, v. 1. 
She had the best intention of being nice to him. 
Atlantic Monthly, LVIII. 4SD. 
[Sice in this sense Is very common In colloquial use as a 
general epithet of approbation applicable to anything that 
pleases. ] To make nice oft. See malcei . = Syn. 3. Xice, 
Dainty, Fastidious, Stpteamish, finical, delicate, exquisite, 
effeminate, fussy. AVe is the most general of the first four 
words ; it suggests careful choice : as, he U nice in his lan- 
guage and in his dress : it is rarely used of overwrought 
delicacy. Dainty is stronger than nice, and ranges from 
a commendable particularity to fastidiousness: as, to be 
dainty in one's choice of clothes or company; a dainty vir- 
tue. Fastidivtis almost always means a somewhat proud 
or haughty particularity; a fastidious person is hard to 
please, because he objects to minute points or to some 
point in almost everything. Smteamish is founded upon 
the notion of feeling nausea; hence It means fastidious 
to an extreme, absurdly particular. 4. Definite, rigorous, 
strict. 5. Accurate, Correct, Exact, etc. See accurate. 
9. Luscious, savory, palatable. 
nicelingt (uls'ling), n. [< nice + -/in*/ 1 .] An 
over-nice person or critic ; a hair-splitter. [Ob- 
solete or rare.] 
But I would ask these Nicelingaone Question, wherein if 
they can resolve me, then I will say, as they say, that scartls 
are necessary, and not flags of pride. 
Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses, p. 79. 
nicely (nis'li), adv. [< i/ce + -ty 2 .] In a nice 
manner, in any sense of the word nice, (a) Fas- 
tidiously ; critically ; curiously : as, he was disposed to look 
into the matter too nicely. 
Be satisfied if poetry be delightful, or helpful, or inspir- 
ing, or all these together, but do not consider too nicely 
why it is so. Lowell, Wordsworth. 
(6) With delicate perception : as, to be nicely sensible, (e) 
Accurately ; exactly ; with exact order or proportion : as, 
the parts of a machine or building nicely adjusted ; a shape 
nicely proportioned : a dress nicely fitted to the body, (rf) 
Agreeably ; becomingly ; pleasantly : as, she was nicely 
dressed, te) Satisfactorily : as, the work progresses nicely. 
[Colloq.] 
Nicene (m'sen), a. [< LL. Nicienus, less correct- 
ly yiccitits, of Nictea or Nice (JVYcrenn fides, the 
Nicene Creed), < Xictca, also 2ficca, < Gr. NVmua 
(> Nixaiof, adj.), a name of several cities (see 
def.),< vaZoc, victorious, < '?, victory.] Of or 
pertaining to Nica;a or Nice, a town of Bitliy- 
nia, Asia Minor. Nicene council, either of two gen- 
eral councils which met at Nicsea. The first Nicene coun- 
cil, which was also the first general council, met In A. 1>. 
:t:i.~>, condemned Arianism, and promulgated the Nicene 
Creed in its earlier form. The second Nicenc council, 
accMimted also the seventh general council, was held in 
787, and condemned the Iconoclasts. The recognition of 
the first Nicene council as ecumenical has been almost uni- 
versal um<m<.r Christians of nil confessions; it is uekium . 
Ink'ed to the present day not only by the Roman Catholic 
ami tbeOreak churches, and by many Protestant churches, 
but by Nestorlans, Jacobites, and Copts. The Anglican 
Church does not accept the sivi-ml Nio-ne council as ecu- 
menical. Nicene Creed or Symbol, a summary of the 
chief tenets of the Christian faith, tlrst set forth as of ecu- 
menical authority by the first Nicenr council (A. D. 325), 
but closely similar in wording to ancient creeds of Oriental 
churches, and especially founded upon the baptismal creed 
:t085 
of thechurchof Crcsarealn Palestine. The distinctive word 
:i iilnl ;i[ N ]M to i xcluiic the |M>!iibility of an Allan eon- 
^unction was hnmnvtuivn (coimiili-tariiial i. which word, 
however, was already In well-establlxhed theological use. 
This creed ended with the words and in the Holy Ghott, and 
an anathema against the distinctive i uiuns 
was subjoined to It. The second general council - that Is, 
the drat ConstanUnopolitan (A. 11. 381) reaffirmed this 
creed, and also authorized, as subsidiary to it, an explan- 
atory version previously formulated, probably in a local 
synod at Antloch, anil close!) similar to ih- liaptismalcrced 
of the church of Jerusalem, differing from the Mcene form 
very slightly In wording, but adding a fuller statement as to 
the lloi> ciio-t. directed against the heresy of the Macedo- 
nians, and concluding as In the form still used. At the Chal- 
'< <l>nian (or fourth general) council (A. i>. 451), the second 
form was authorized equally with the first as the Nicene 
faith, and was officially and historically known from that 
time forward as the fluent Creed ; church historians, how- 
ever, sometimes speak of it as the Xicomo-Coitstantinopol- 
itan Creed. Both these forms have been reaffirmed evei 
since by all councils claiming to be ecumenical. The sec 
ond form came into general use in the Eastern Church in 
the latter part of the fifth century, and has remained unal- 
tered in that church to the present day. It remained un- 
altered In the West also for some centuries, but an Impor- 
tant addition, namely, the word fliaque, 'and (from) the 
Son, 'after the words who proceedeth from the Father, In the 
last paragraph, was Introduced in the sixth century, and, 
though still rejected by the Roman Church in the ninth 
century, had by the eleventh become accepted throughout 
all westeni Europe. It Is this form, with the Interpolated 
filioque, which Is used by the Roman Church, the Anglican 
Church, and all Protestant churches which accept the Ni- 
cene Creed, and It is this last form, therefore, which is gen- 
erally called by that name. The Western forms begin " I 
believe," not " We believe," as In the Greek. The Nicene 
Creed In Its second form is the only authoritative creed of 
the Eastern Church. 
niceness (nis'nes), n. The character or qual- 
ity of being nice, in any sense of that word. 
= Syn. See nice. 
nicery(m'ser-i),. [< ice + -ery.] Daintiness; 
affectation of delicacy. Chauman. 
niceteet, A Middle English form of nicety. 
nicety (ni'se-ti), n. ; pi. niceties (-tiz). [< ME. 
nicetee, nycetc, nysete, < OF. nicete, simpleness, 
foolishness, etc., < nice, simple, foolish: see 
nice and -ity, -hr.] If. Ignorance ; folly ; fool- 
ishness; triviality. 
He halt hit a niicrtr and a foul shame 
To beggen other to borwe bole of God one. 
Fieri Plowman (C), xvli. 370. 
Now, parde, fol, yet were It bet for the 
Han holde thy pea than shewed thy nysctt. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 572. 
2. Fastidiousness ; extreme or excessive deli- 
cacy; squcamishness. 
So love doth loathe disdainful nicety. Spenser. 
Pray, Mr. Thomas, what is it all of a sudden offends your 
Xicety at our house? Steele, Conscious Lovers, I. 1. 
That, perhaps, may be owing to his nicety. Great men 
are not easily satisfied, Ooldsmith, Good-natured Man, ii. 
If yon wish your wife to be the pink of nicety, you should 
clear your court of demi-reputatlons. 
K. L. Stevenson, Prince Otto, II. 10. 
3. Nice discrimination; delicacy of perception ; 
acuteness. 
Nor was this Xirety of His [the Earl of Dorset's] Judg- 
ment confined only to Books and Literature ; but was the 
same in Statuary, Painting, and all other Parts of Art. 
Prior, Poems, Ded. 
4. A nice distinction; a refinement; a subtlety; 
a fine-drawn point or criticism. 
Thus much for the terme, though not greatly pertinent 
to the matter, yet not vnpleasant to know for them that 
delight in such nicities. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 210. 
These are nicities that become not those that peruse so 
serious a mystery. Sir T. Brmmt, Religio Medici, L 22. 
Pray stay not on Niceties, but be advis'd. 
Steele, Grief A-la-.Mo.le, iii. 1. 
5. Delicacy; exactness; accuracy; precision. 
By his own nicety of observation he had already formed 
such a system of metrical harmony as he never afterwards 
much needed, or much endeavoured, to improve. 
Johnson, Waller. 
She touched the Imperious fantastic humour of the char- 
acter with nicety. Lamb, Old Actors. 
Conscience is harder than our enemies, 
Knows more, accuses with more nicety. 
George Eliot, Spanish Gypsy. 
His [Grey'sl nicety in the use of vowel-sounds. 
Lowell, New Princeton Rev., I. 160. 
6. A dainty or delicacy; something rare or 
choice : usually in the plural. 
Of these mauer of niceteet ye shal flnde in many places 
of our booke. Putteiiham, Arte of Eng. Poesle, p. 111. 
7. Nice appearance ; agreeableness of appear- 
ance To a nicety, to a turn ; with great exactness. 
nicht, orfi'. [ME., lit. 'not I,' < AS., < we, not, 
+ -n: L] No. 
niche (nich), n. [< F. niche, < It. nicchia. a niche, 
a recess in a wall likened to the hollow of a 
shell, < iiin-liiit. a shell, also a niche, with a 
change of initial m to (seen also in It. ncxpola, 
< L. nirsi>itnm. a medlar, and in map 1 , naiikiii, 
unit 1 , and nat 3 , etc.), and a reg. change of L. 
nicify 
-t nl n.i lo It. -rchia (as in rcccliin, < L. 
old, i'tc.), < \i. iiii/iiln.i, Hii/tilii*. mifiiiliif. a 
musNrl: SIT Mjitilii.i.] 1. A HOOK or re 
V I'ilically, a recess 
of a statue, a vase, or other ornament. In an- 
sea- 
recess; 
cient Roman architecture niches were generally semicir- 
cular in plan, and terminated In a semi-dome at the top. 
They were sometimes, however, square. headed, and In clas- 
! 
Niche {n central pier of treat western portal, Amiens Cathedral, 
France ; i3lh century. 
slcal architecture sometimes also square in plan. They 
were ornamented with pillars, architraves, and consoles, 
and In other ways. In the architecture of the middle ages 
niches were extensively used in decoration and for the re- 
ception of statues. In the Romanesque style they were so 
shallow as tu be little more than panels, and the figures 
were frequently carved on the back in high relief. In the 
Pointed style they became more deeply recessed, and were 
highly enriched with elaborate canopies, and often much 
accessory ornament. In plan they are roost frequently 
a semi-octagon or a semi-hexagon, and their heads are 
formed of groined vaulting, with bosses and pendants ac- 
cording to the prevalent architecture of the time. They are 
often projected on corbels, and adonied with pillars, but- 
tresses, and various moldings. Compare cut under gallery. 
In each of the niches are two statues of a man and wo- 
niau In alto-relievo. 
Pococlce, Description of the East, II. L 134. 
There are niches, It Is true, on each side of the gateway, 
like those found at Martian. 1 and other Pagan temples; 
but, like those at Ahmedabad, they are without Images. 
J. Fergusson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 81. 
Hence 2. Figuratively, a position or condition 
in which a person or tiling is placed; one's 
assigned or appropriate place. 
After every deduction has been made, the work fills a 
niche of its own, and is without competitor. 
Raolte of Precedence (E. . T. S. , extra ser.), p. 49, note. 
niche (nich), v. t. ; pret. and pp. niched, ppr. 
niching. [< niche, w.] 1. To furnish with a 
niche or with niches. 2. To place in a niche, 
literally or figuratively. 
At length I came within sight of them, . . . where they 
sat cosily niched into what you might call a bunker, a lit- 
tle sand pit, dry and snug, and surrounded by its banks. 
Scott, Redgauntlet, letter x. 
So you see my position, and why I am niched here for 
life, as a schoolmaster. //. B. Stoice, Oldtown, p. 227. 
Those niched shapes of noble mould. 
Tennyson, The Daisy. 
nichelt, . See nickil. 
nichert, An obsolete form of nickrr 3 . 
nichllt, nichelt, " [< OF. nichil, < L. nihil, 
nothing: see ;ii7, i/2.] Nothing; in old Kmj. 
line, a corrupt form of the Latin niliil, used by 
a sheriff in making return that assets or debt- 
ors are worthless Clerk of the nichels. see clerk. 
nichil,''. [<. nichil, .] I.t intruns. Jnoldni/. 
law, to make return, as sheriff, that a debt is 
worthless, either because the debtor cannot be 
found, or because of his inability to pay. 
In case any sheriff . . . shall nichil or not duly answer 
any debt, . . . levied, collected, or received, etc. 
Eng. Slat, of 1710. 
II. frans. To castrate. Halliicell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
Nicholson's hydrometer. See Hydrometer. 
nicht (nicht), H. An obsolete or Scotch form 
of night. 
nicifyt(ni'si-fi),r. f. [<nice+--/y.] To make 
nice of (a thing); be squeamish about. [Rare.] 
Faire la sadinette. To mince It, nidfe it, make It dainty, 
be very squeamish, backward, or coy. Cotgrmce. 
