## Meanings
1. Tidy and arranged in an orderly way.
2. Done with care, skill, and precision.
3. (of an alcoholic drink) served on its own, without ice or water added.

## Examples
- She always keeps her desk neat.
- He has very neat handwriting.
- He drinks his whisky neat.

## Derived Forms
- neat-freakery
- neat-handed
- neat-house
- neaten
- neatify
- neatly
- neatness
- neatnik
- neato
- neatresse
- neatwork
- overneat

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: nete
- Root: nēat
- Root: *naut
- Root: *nautą
- Root: *newd-

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Neat comes 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”). Modern senses include tidy and arranged in an orderly way and done with care, skill, and precision. The wider word family includes derivatives such as neat-freakery, neat-handed, neat-house, neaten, neatify, and neatly.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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