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neat¹

(nēt)

adj. neat·er, neat·est

a. Orderly and clean; tidy: a neat office; a neat desk.

b. Habitually tidy or well-organized: was lucky to have a neat roommate.

2. Marked by ingenuity and skill; adroit: a neat turn of phrase.

3. Not diluted or mixed with other substances: neat whiskey.

4. Left after all deductions; net: neat profit.

5. Slang Wonderful; terrific: That was a neat party.

[Anglo-Norman neit, clear, pure, variant of Old French net, from Latin nitidus, elegant, gleaming, from nitēre, to shine.]

neatly adv.

neatness n.

neat²

(nēt)

n. pl. neat
Archaic

A cow or other domestic bovine animal.

[Middle English net, from Old English nēat.]

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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