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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

NITHER, v., n. Also (k)nidder, niddar; nitter (Sc. 1808 Jam.), nitr (Jak.), nitre. [′nɪðər, ′nɪd-]

I. v. 1. To oppress, lay low, suppress, keep under, vex, harass (Sc. 1808 Jam.).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 174:
We're obliged to nither Our spacious Sauls immense desires.
Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 10:
Sisyphus, That's nidder'd sae in hell.
s.Sc. 1784 G. Caw Poet. Museum 374:
I wat you knidder'd gay and sair Ilk canting, cappit bigot?
Abd. 1828 P. Buchan Ballads I. 75:
They niddart ither wi' lang braid swords, Till they were bleedy men.
Ags. 1880 Brechin Advertiser (21 Sept.) 3:
Troth, lang has been the road, gudeman, Sair nidder'd have we been.
e.Lth. 1903 J. Lumsden Toorle 233:
Puir John and Sand! thy weird yet nithers This auld gray man!

2. To pinch or stunt with cold or hunger, to check in growth, to shrivel, to straiten (Rxb. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry Gl.; Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1954 Hawick News (18 June) 7). Also intr., to dwindle, wither, waste away, as a grain crop (Ork. 1929 Marw.). Ppl.adj. nitherin, nidderin(g), shrivelling, blasting, freezing (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh. 1964) fig. pining, fretting (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 364); nither't, nidder(e)d, nidderet, pinched, as with cold or hunger, starved-looking, checked in growth, stunted, wasted (Ags., Lth. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. 1928); Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh., m.Lth., s.Sc. 1964).Sc. 1736 Ramsay Proverbs (1776) 7:
How nither'd and hungry wad the gentle board look without the product o' your rigs and faulds?
Rnf. 1813 E. Picken Poems I. 99:
Winter nithers a' below.
Lnk. 1827 J. Watt Poems 69:
Why sae callous, cauld, and wither'd, Conscience dosent, dry, and nither'd?
Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 223:
But, nither'd by the norlan' breeze, The wee, wee flower aft dwines an' dees.
e.Lth. 1896 J. Lumsden Battle Dunbar 16:
Its sadness gart me grane an' greet, And nidder doun to my fowre feet!
Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
De bairn is nidderd doon; de animal is nidderin awaa.
Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables 61:
His busses, unproteckit, bore nae fruit, An' sune were niddert to the vera ruit.
Rxb. 1958 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 25:
Fair niddered and a cruppen thegither.
Slk. 1985 Walter Elliot Clash-ma-clavers 19:
When wunds was [? erron. for wad] nidder tae the marrae
An grouse ate haws, like ony sparrae.

Hence adj. nitherie, -y, wasted, growing feebly (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).Rxb. 1825 Jam.:
Nitherie corn”, that which is so feeble that it can scarcely be cut.

3. To shrink or huddle, as with cold, to be shivery, tremble (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), nit(te)r; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 257; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Lth., Lnk., s.Sc. 1964). Ppl.adj. nitherin', shivering (Watson). Comb. nitre-cauld, chilly, causing one to shiver.Ayr. 1834 Galt Liter. Life III. 32:
It was nitre cauld, though lown.
e.Lth. 1896 J. Lumsden Battle Dunbar 62:
The theme is Sae loomin, lairge, an' hie, I nither an' swither.

4. Fig. To depreciate, disparage, undervalue (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl.).Sh.10 1964:
When I used as a boy to go line-fishing for flounders or haddocks, I would look down in the water and say, “Dere's anidder een.” I was told not to nidder da fish. It was unfishermanlike and unlucky.

II. n. 1. Oppression, stress, a withering or stunting influence. Rare.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 136:
[The country] peeled o' flesh by vile ambition's nither.

2. In mining: a trouble, a fault or dislocation in a seam of coal.Sc. 1774 Caled. Mercury (9 July):
What miners call Dykes, Hitches, Nithers, Water, etc.

[O.Sc. nethring, abasement, 1375, nether, to bend down, oppress, 1460. O.E. niðerian, O.N. niðra, to bring low, humiliate. Cf. Nether, adj. The Sh. form nitter may be due to conflation with Natter.]

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"Nither v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/nither>

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