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nim

(nĭm)

A game in which players in turn remove small objects from one of several collections, such as matchsticks arranged in rows, and attempt to take, or avoid taking, the last one.

[Perhaps from German nimm, second person sing. imperative of nehmen, to take, from Middle High German nemen, from Old High German neman; see nem- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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