nidget

English

Alternative forms

• nigeot
• nigget

Etymology

Compare French nigaud (“a booby, fool”), Old French niger (“to play the fool”).

Noun

nidget (plural nidgets)

1. (obsolete) A fool or idiot.
   • 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:

     in signification it signifieth, as it seemeth, no more than abject, base-minded, falſe-hearted, coward or nidget

   • 1650, Randle Cotgrave, A French-Engliſh dictionary, Compil'd by Mr Randle Cotgrave: with Another in English and French., London: Luke Fawne:

     Nigeur: m. A midget, fup, trifler.

2. (obsolete) A coward.

References

• “nidget”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• tinged