neat

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Tidy and arranged in an orderly way.

   She always keeps her desk neat.

2. 2
   adj

   Done with care, skill, and precision.

   He has very neat handwriting.

3. 3
   adj

   (of an alcoholic drink) served on its own, without ice or water added.

   He drinks his whisky neat.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Neat came into late Middle English through French net from Latin nitidus, “bright, shiny, glossy.” It initially emphasized a clean, handsome appearance; the sense “undiluted” developed from the late 15th-century meaning “free from impurities,” while the American slang sense “excellent” dates from the early 19th century.

From Middle English nete, neat, from Old English nēat (“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle”), from Proto-West Germanic *naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą (“foredeal, profit, property, livestock”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with Dutch noot (“cow, cattle”, in compounds), dialectal German Noß (“livestock”), Alemannic German Nooss (“young sheep or goat”), Swedish nöt (“cattle”), Icelandic naut (“cattle, bull”) and Faroese neyt (“cattle”). More at note.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary