Nesh
Intransitive verb
dialect:English
To act timidly, to become soft
from Old English hnesce; related to Gothic hnasqus tender, soft; of obscure origin.
Middle English nesshen, neschen to make soft, become soft, from Old English hnescian, from hnesce.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
adjective
Timid or cowardly
“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
The word in fact is very old and dates from Old English, which means that it has been in use from before 1150! It's meaning back then, according to the OED, was 'soft in texture or consistency'. By the Middle Ages, it had become to mean 'timid or faint-hearted'.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary
adjective meaning 'Timid or Cowardly' also 'unusually susceptible to cold weather' and there is no synonym for this use. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as: "Soft in texture or consistency; yielding easily to pressure or force. In later use chiefly: tender, succulent, juicy."
Usage in the 21st century has been recorded in Staffordshire, the East Midlands, Lancashire, North Wales, South Yorkshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire. There is a similar term nish used in Newfoundland. In 1905, Volume 4 of the English Dialect Dictionary specified the word as being used more widely, in many dialects across England, Scotland and the United States.
The word comes from Old English hnesce meaning feeble, weak, or infirm. and is a cognate with the 16th century Dutch word nesch typically meaning damp or foolish. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that some etymologists have suggested a connection with Old High German nasc, meaning 'to eat dainty food or delicacies' (the origin of the word nosh), but it dismisses this connection as "unlikely".
Nesh was added, in 2011, to the British Library 'wordbank', a project to preserve regional dialect words and phrases.
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