nice (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).
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