nihhussa

Grammatical information: v.

Meaning: `wash, bathe'.

Other forms: - ομαι (Il.), analog. νίπτω (Men., NT), - ομαι (v. l. σ 179, Hp.), aor. νίψαι, - ασθαι (Il.), pass. νιφθῆναι (Hp.). fut. νίψω, - ομαι (Od.), pass. νιφήσομαι (LXX), perf. midd. νένιπται (Ω 419), νένιμμαι (Ar.).

Compounds: Also (in Att. prose always) w. prefix, esp. ἀπο- a. ἐκ-.

Derivatives: 1. νίπτρον ( ἀπό-), mostly pl., n. `water for washing' (trag., Ar.), ποδάνιπτρα pl. (- ον) through syllabledissim. from *ποδ-απόνιπτρον (to be rejected Bechtel Lex. s.v.), second. ποδό-νιπτρον, `water for washing one's feet' (Od.); besides ποδανιπτήρ m. (sec. ποδο-) `washing basin for one's feet' (Stesich., Hdt., inscr.), νιπτήρ m. `washing basin' (Ev. Jo.); 2. κατανίπ-της m. `washer', who washes the peplos of Athene Polias (AB, EM; 3. ( ἀπό-, κατά-)νίμμα n. `washing water'; 4. ( ἀπό-, ἔκ-)νίψις f. `washing' (Plu., medic.). On the forms in gen. Wackernagel Syntax 2, 187. -- On χέρνιψ s. v.

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [761] * neigʷ- `wash'.

Etymology: From νίψαι, νίψω (from where second. νίπτω) it follows that for νίζω the basis was a zero grade yot-present IE *nigʷ-i̯ō, which is also retained in Celt., OIr. nigim `wash'. Sankrit has a full grade athematic reduplicated formation né-nek-ti `washes' with zero grade niddle ne-nik-té. The sigmatic aorist is also in Sanskrit represented by middle nik-ṣ-i (1. sg.), beside which with regular lengthened grade act. a-naik-ṣam. Greek abandoned ablaut completely and generalized the zero grade ( νίψω, νίμμα etc.). Formal agreement show the privative verbal adj. ἄ-νιπ-τος and Skt. nik-tá- `washen', OIr. necht `pure'. An isolated verbal noun seems preserved in Germ., e.g. OHG nihhus, nichus `river-monster, waterghost', f. nihhussa, NHG. Nix, Nixe, PGm. *nik-u̯es-, * nik-us-; Lat. pollingō `wash the corpses' prob. remains far, s. W.-Hofmann s.v. -- Further details in WP. 2, 322, Pok. 761, Mayrhofer s. nénekti and niktáḥ.

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