nest

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A structure that a bird or other animal builds to lay eggs and raise its young.

   Two small birds built a nest in the tree outside my window.

2. 2
   verb

   To build or live in a nest.

   Swallows nest under the roof every spring.

3. 3
   verb

   To fit one thing neatly inside another.

   The bowls nest together to save space.

4. 4
   noun

   A secret place where dangerous people gather; a den.

   The old building was a nest of thieves.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Nest comes from Old English and originally denoted a “sitting-down place.” It derives from the same ancient roots as nether and sit. The related verb nestle first meant “build a nest” and acquired its modern sense in the 16th century.

From Middle English nest, nist, nyst, from Old English nest, from Proto-West Germanic *nest, from Proto-Germanic *nestą, from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (“nest”), literally "where [the bird] sits down", a compound of *ni (“down”) (whence also English nether) + the zero-grade of the root *sed- (“to sit”) (whence also English sit).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary