## Meanings
1. One of the thin fibres in your body that carry messages between your brain and other parts.
2. Feelings of worry or fear before an important event (usually plural).
3. The courage or confidence to do something difficult or risky.
4. Rude confidence; the boldness to do something unacceptable.

## Examples
- The accident damaged a nerve in his arm.
- She had a bad case of nerves before the big test.
- I wanted to ask her to dance, but I lost my nerve.
- He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited.

## Derived Forms
- abnerval
- binervate
- denervate
- denervated
- innervate
- innerve
- midnerve
- nerval
- nervate
- nervation
- nerve-jangling
- nerve-rack

## Related Forms
- enervate
- nervous
- nervure
- neuron

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)neh₁-
- Root: nerve
- Root: nervus

## Etymology
Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew. Verb sense 4 (“to get on (someone’s) nerves”) is chiefly a semantic loan from German nerven.

## AI Etymology
Nerve recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew. Verb. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁-, Middle English nerve, la-med nervus, and Latin nervus. Modern senses include one of the thin fibres in your body that carry messages between your brain and other parts and feelings of worry or fear before an important event (usually plural). The wider word family includes derivatives such as abnerval, binervate, denervate, denervated, innervate, and innerve and related forms such as enervate, nervous, nervure, and neuron.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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