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[nees] /nis/

noun
1.
a port in and the capital of Alpes-Maritimes, in SE France, on the Mediterranean: resort.
/naɪs/
adjective
1.
pleasant or commendable: a nice day
2.
kind or friendly: a nice gesture of help
3.
good or satisfactory: they made a nice job of it
4.
subtle, delicate, or discriminating: a nice point in the argument
5.
precise; skilful: a nice fit
6.
(rare) fastidious; respectable: he was not too nice about his methods
7.
(obsolete)

8.
nice and, pleasingly: it’s nice and cool
/French nis/
noun
1.
a city in SE France, on the Mediterranean: a leading resort of the French Riviera; founded by Phocaeans from Marseille in about the 3rd century bc. Pop: 342 738 (1999)
/naɪs/
noun acronym
1.
(in Britain) National Institute for Clinical Excellence: a body established in 1999 to provide authoritative guidance on current best practice in medicine and to promote high-quality cost-effective medical treatment in the NHS
adj.

late 13c., “foolish, stupid, senseless,” from Old French nice (12c.) “careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish,” from Latin nescius “ignorant, unaware,” literally “not-knowing,” from ne- “not” (see un-) + stem of scire “to know” (see science). “The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj.” [Weekley] — from “timid” (pre-1300); to “fussy, fastidious” (late 14c.); to “dainty, delicate” (c.1400); to “precise, careful” (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to “agreeable, delightful” (1769); to “kind, thoughtful” (1830).

“In many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken.” [OED]

By 1926, it was pronounced “too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness.” [Fowler]

“I am sure,” cried Catherine, “I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should I not call it so?”
“Very true,” said Henry, “and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk; and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything.” [Jane Austen, “Northanger Abbey,” 1803]

Nice [(nees)]

City in southeastern France on the Mediterranean Sea.

Note: Nice is the most famous resort of the French Riviera.

Related Terms

make nice
National Institute for Consumer Education