| niddering | adj. | cowardly, nefast | ||
| nidus | n. | site of origin; place where insects deposit their eggs | ||
| niello | n. | black mixture usually consisting of silver, sulfur, copper, and lead, used as fill in silverwork, leaving black lines or background when the surrounding silver is polished | ||
| niffy | adj. | stinky, malodorous (colloquial) | British | |
| nigrescent | adj. | blackish | ||
| nihil obstat | n. | permission to publish, certification that a Roman Catholic censor has examined a work and found nothing contrary to official church doctrine, lit. “nothing stands in the way” | ||
| nil admirari | adj. | “to wonder at nothing” | Latin | |
| nineteen to the dozen | adv. | going on rapidly without cease, usu. of speech | idiom | |
| ning-nong | n. | idiot, dunderhead | slang | |
| ninnyhammer | n. | fool, simpleton | ||
| nipperkin | n. | liquid measure amounting from a third to a half pint | ||
| Nissen hut | n. | prefabricated building of arched metal developed by Major Peter Norman Nissen in World War I | British | |
| niveous | adj. | resembling snow; snowy | ||
| nobble | v. | to impede a horse from winning a race, as by drugging; to convince by underhand means; to seize | ||
| nobiliary | adj. | of or relating to the nobility | ||
| nocent | adv. | noxious, harmful; not innocent | ||
| nociceptor | n. | pain receptor | ||
| noctuary | n. | record of incidents which happen at night, journal of nocturnal happenings | ||
| nocturne | n. | instrumental piece of dreamy or pensive quality; night scene | ||
| noddle | n. | the head | British | |
| noddypoll | n. | simpleton, fool, blockhead | archaic | |
| noesis | n. | cognition; use of reason | ||
| noetic | adj. | of or related to the mind | ||
| noli me tangere | n. | (lit. “touch me not”) thing or person which must not be touched; prohibition against interference; painting displaying Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene | Latin | |
| noma | n. | gangrenous disease of the cheeks and mouth | ||
| nomad | n. | wanderer | ||
| nomenklatura | n. | official list of bureaucrats and appointees to government posts in the Soviet Union; the people on such lists; any elite or other privileged group | ||
| nomothetic | adj. | based upon law; of or related to universal laws | ||
| non placet | n. | negative vote | Latin | |
| non sequitur | n. | disturbingly inapt transition or sequence; statement not logically following its precedent | Latin | |
| nonage | n. | legal minority; immaturity | ||
| nonesuch | n. | unequaled thing or person | ||
| nonplus | n. | paralyzing perplexity | ||
| noology | n. | the study of knowledge and knowing | ||
| nooning | n. | noonday meal or rest period | ||
| nootropic | n. | cognition-enhancing drug | ||
| noria | n. | device for raising water, consisting of buckets on a chain or wheel, the buckets filling with water at the bottom and discharging the water at the top, used in Spain and Asia | ||
| normal | adj. | at right angle, perpendicular | ||
| nosocomial | adj. | acquired because of hospitalization | ||
| nosology | n. | classification of disease | ||
| not on your nelly | int. | no!, not on your life, noway nohow | idiom | |
| notaphily | n. | the study or collecting of paper money | ||
| nous | n. | mind, reason; common sense | ||
| nowhither | adv. | to no place; nowhere | ||
| noxious | adj. | unhealthy | ||
| nuchal | adj. | of or relating to the nape of the neck | ||
| nullah | n. | ravine, riverbed, gully | ||
| nunc dimittis | n. | permission to leave | Latin | |
| nutant | adj. | drooping | ||
| nyctalopia | n. | night blindness, inability to see clearly in dim light or at night |
