Crossword Dictionary
NIGH
near, nigh - a
being on the left side; "the near or nigh horse is the one on the left"; "the animal's left side is its near or nigh side"
Synonyms
close, nearly, about, adjacent, almost, beside, get back on one's feet, neighboring
Examples
The French and English were sufficiently equal in strength to make the task of government well nigh impossible.
Pelayo, whom they chose for king, and his victory of Covadonga, are well nigh as legendary, and are quite as obscure as Garci Jimenes and Inigo Arista.
These events shook the whole Persian empire; Babylon and other subject states rose in revolt, and to the Jews it seemed that Persia was tottering and that the Messianic era was nigh.
Etymology
"near, nearby, close together, adjacent," Middle English neigh, from Old English neah (West Saxon, Kentish), neh (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic *naehwa- (source also of Old Saxon nah, Old Frisian nei, Middle Dutch, Dutch na, Old High German nah, German nah, Gothic nehwa), of uncertain origin, with no cognates outside Germanic. The Old English progression was neah - near - niehsta, for "nigh - nigher - nighest." But the comparative near and the superlative nehst (see next) gradually evolved into separate words that were no longer felt as related to nigh. New comparative and superlative forms nigher, nighest developed 14c. as phonetic changes obscured the original relationships. As an adjective and preposition in Middle English.