The word today is Nithered
Nithered is an adjective and means the following:
- To acknowledge the effect(s) of feeling very cold - "I'm Nithered"
- To be or feel to be very cold
- Derived from the word Nither (Humiliate, Blast, Debase of Blight)
N.B. Not clear how nither and nithered are related
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| A word rarely used these days |
Nithered seems to be so rare my spell-checker refuses its use
To be very cold or feeling its effects someone may say they are nithered
To be chilled or cold is not enough to be nithered
Where I live, the word "nithered" remains in use, for example, "you must be nithered with so few clothes on in this (freezing) weather", so I was surprised to learn that it is, and was always, a rare word because of its limited geographical area of use: Scottish borders and North Eastern England. It is a word in steep decline, possibly into extinction, as its users are dying off and younger people rarely need to express their feeling of great personal coldness. Modern people will say "I'm frozen", "I'm freezing", "I'm very cold"; but not use nithered.
Don't let this word die, use it and then explain it to others.
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