English
nicely
Nicely comes from Middle English nycely ‘idiotically, ridiculously’, from nyce ‘foolish, simple, ignorant, naive’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split, to dissect’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-1‘to split, to dissect’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skijō2uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciō1‘to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnesciō3‘not to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnescius4‘not knowing, unknowing, in ignorance, ignorant, unaware, untaught’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400nice4
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyce5‘foolish, simple, ignorant, naive’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nycely6‘idiotically, ridiculously’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590nicely6
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin nescio
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin scio
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin nescius
- 4 Wiktionary, Middle English nyce
- 5 Wiktionary, Middle English nycely
- 6 Wiktionary, English nicely
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto XII: “He lookt askew with his mistrustfull eyes, / And…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-Wiktionary, Latin nescio‘to split, to dissect’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skijōWiktionary, Latin sciouncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciōWiktionary, Latin nescio‘to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnesciōWiktionary, Latin nescius‘not to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnesciusWiktionary, Middle English nyce‘not knowing, unknowing, in ignorance, ignorant, unaware, untaught’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400niceWiktionary, Middle English nyce
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyceWiktionary, Middle English nycely‘foolish, simple, ignorant, naive’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nycelyWiktionary, English nicely‘idiotically, ridiculously’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590nicelyWiktionary, English nicely. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto XII: “He lookt askew with his mistrustfull eyes, / And…”
Formed from nice + -ly
Latin sciō ‘to know’
Latin nesciō ‘not to know’
Latin nescius ‘ignorant’
Old French nice
Middle English nyce ‘foolish’
English nice
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split, to dissect’
ship, equipment, shift, shed, skip, kyle, ski, conscience, shin, squire, sheath, skeet, scuttle, prescient, skiff, chine, skein, scullery, shud, 40 more
through Proto-Italic *skijō
omniscience, prescience, 14 more
through Latin sciō ‘to know’
Today it means
adv Fastidiously; carefully.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “nicely”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin nescio, Latin scio, Latin nescius, Middle English nyce, Middle English nycely. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skey- / nicely