{"id":9147,"date":"2026-03-10T21:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/?p=9147"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:47:20","slug":"nits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/2026\/03\/10\/nits\/","title":{"rendered":"Nits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Words for <strong>nit<\/strong> and related things in Celtic languages.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mazarines\/8351652558\/in\/photolist-dJ1pkC-4w488G-8dwJRM-ah4Tu2-if7QSv-2nVfUmC-eMFGDM-KYApVk-xGNGeQ-fGTm32-NeoZQ1-sryTm7-n3kBMt-A3cdc9-R3yhz3-a4FxHw-GTpTKm-4dLUBX-DavA6U-2ghZEux-rZtGgT-46Wqok-9GYQJR-78Les-edCNKq-iq4soP-9Prxwo-qkQN1-iq3HFC-4brqiU-bhbzbH-4yD9nu-siNGfx-dMRBLj-bs5qjP-b4rBSp-9DPprh-bGqart-7VBUb7-4o37o7-5i8SUS-dTuJBN-UPKgf-4BinCy-56pgxC-8RJqQY-6z88Jd-Nuq68b-dXc6Bq-ZaZBLG\" title=\"Nit-picking\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/8183\/8351652558_af1cf81d3f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Nit-picking\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Words marked with a * are reconstructions.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*snid\u0101<\/strong> = nit<br \/>\n<strong>*snid\u0101kos<\/strong> = full of nits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>sned<\/strong> = shoulder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish<\/th>\n<td><strong>sned, snid<\/strong> = nit<br \/>\n<strong>snedach, sneadach<\/strong> = nitty, full of nits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>sniodh<\/strong> = nit<br \/>\n<strong>sne\u00e1ch<\/strong> = nitty<br \/>\n<strong>sne\u00e1ch\u00e1n<\/strong> = person with nits in his hair, contemptible person<br \/>\n<strong>sne\u00e1id\u00edos<\/strong> = ants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G\u00e0idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>sneadh<\/strong> [\u0283\u032an\u02b2\u0264\u0263] = nit (egg of a louse)<br \/>\n<strong>sneadhag<\/strong> [\u0283\u032an\u02b2\u0264\u0263ag] = nit (egg of a louse)<br \/>\n<strong>snig<\/strong> [\u0283\u032an\u02b2ig\u02b2] = nit (egg of a louse)<br \/>\n<strong>sneadhach<\/strong> [\u0283\u032an\u02b2\u0264\u0263\u0259x] = pertaining to or abounding in nits, nit-like\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>sneig, sneing<\/strong> = nit, louse egg<br \/>\n<strong>sniegagh, sniengagh<\/strong> = nitty<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Brythonic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*ne\u00f0<\/strong> = nit (?)<br \/>\n<strong>*ne\u00f0\u1ecdg<\/strong> = full of nits (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>nedd, ned<\/strong> = nits<br \/>\n<strong>nedawc<\/strong> = full of nits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>nedd<\/strong> [ne\u02d0\u00f0] = nits<br \/>\n<strong>nedden<\/strong> [\u02c8n\u025b\u00f0\u025bn \/ \u02c8ne\u02d0\u00f0\u025bn] = nit<br \/>\n<strong>neddog<\/strong> = full of nits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Cornish (Cernewec \/ Kernuak)<\/th>\n<td><strong>nedh, n\u00eadh<\/strong> = nits<br \/>\n<strong>nedhan<\/strong> = nit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>nedh<\/strong> = nits<br \/>\n<strong>nedhen<\/strong> = nit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>nez<\/strong> = nits<br \/>\n<strong>nezenn, nezen<\/strong> = nit<br \/>\n<strong>nezeuc<\/strong> = full of nits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>nez<\/strong> = nits<br \/>\n<strong>nezenn<\/strong> = nit<br \/>\n<strong>nezek<\/strong> = full of nits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from Proto-Indo-European <em>*-n\u00edd-<\/em> (nit, louse egg) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/snid%C4%81\">source<\/a>]. Words from the same roots include <strong>nit<\/strong> in English, <strong>gn\u012bda<\/strong> (nit, maggot) in Latvian, <strong>hnida<\/strong> (nit) in Czech, and <strong>neet<\/strong> (nit, egg of louse) in Dutch, <strong>Nisse<\/strong> (nit) in German and <strong>th\u00ebri<\/strong> (nit) in Albanian [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/-n%C3%ADd-\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sources: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/\">Wiktionary<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/EtymologicalDictionaryOfProtoCeltic\">Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk\/sengoidelc\/duil-belrai\/english.html\">In D\u00fail B\u00e9lrai English &#8211; Old Irish glossary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/dil.ie\/\">eDIL &#8211; Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teanglann.ie\/en\/fgb\/ceann\">Teanglann.ie<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.faclair.com\/\">Am Faclair Beag<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikisource.org\/wiki\/An_Etymological_Dictionary_of_the_Gaelic_Language\">An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionaryq.com\/gaelg\/\">Fockleyreen: Manx &#8211; English Dictionary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mannin.info\/Mannin\/fockleyr\/m2e.php\">Online Manx Dictionary<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/corpus.gaelg.im\/\">Gaelg Corpus<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/geiriadur.ac.uk\/gpc\/gpc.html\">Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/lexiconcornubrit00willuoft\/page\/n5\/mode\/2up\">Lexicon cornu-britannicum : a dictionary of the ancient Celtic language of Cornwall<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cornishdictionary.org.uk\/\">Gerlyver Kernewek<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/devri.bzh\/\">Devri : Le dictionaire diachronique du breton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/geriafurch.bzh\/fr\">Geriafurch<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brezhoneg.bzh\/87-termofis.htm\">TermOfis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Words for nit and related things in Celtic languages. Words marked with a * are reconstructions. Proto-Celtic *snid\u0101 = nit *snid\u0101kos = full of nits Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc) sned = shoulder Middle Irish sned, snid = nit snedach, sneadach = nitty, full of nits Irish (Gaeilge) sniodh = nit sne\u00e1ch = nitty sne\u00e1ch\u00e1n = person [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,66,73,16,26,75,81,19,20,61,21,3,109,22,5,6,37,7,27,10,12,13,23,18,14],"tags":[52,80,51,145,48,47,53,49,368,369,370,55,50],"class_list":["post-9147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives","category-albanian","category-animals","category-breton","category-kernewek-cornish","category-czech-cestina","category-dutch-nederlands","category-english","category-etymology","category-german","category-gaeilge-irish","category-language","category-latvian-latviesu-valoda","category-gaelg-manx","category-middle-breton","category-middle-cornish","category-middle-irish","category-middle-welsh-kymraec","category-nouns","category-old-irish-goidelc","category-proto-celtic","category-proto-indo-european","category-gaidhlig-scottish-gaelic","category-cymraeg-welsh","category-words","tag-breton","tag-celtic","tag-cornish","tag-etymology","tag-gaelic","tag-irish","tag-language","tag-manx","tag-nit","tag-nits","tag-nitty","tag-scottish-gaelic","tag-welsh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9147"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9150,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147\/revisions\/9150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}