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nimble

Pronunciation: /ˈnɪmbəl/

The English word “nimble” has 4 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Adept at taking or grasping.
  2. Quick and light in movement or action.
  3. Quickwitted and alert.

verb

  1. To move nimbly.

Etymology

With intrusive -b-, inherited from Middle English nymyl, nemel, nemyll, nymell (“agile, quick, ready, able, capable”), a merger of Old English nǣmel (“receptive, quick to grasp”) and Old English numol (“able to take, capable of holding”), both from niman (“to take”) + -el, -ol (associative suffix), corresponding to nim + -le. Compare German nehmen, Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman), Old Norse nema (“to…

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