| napery | n. | table linen; household linen | ||
| napoo | adj. | finished, used up, gone, no more | slang | |
| nard | n. | scented balsam derived from the Himalayan spikenard | ||
| nares | n. | the nostrils | ||
| narghile | n. | hookah | ||
| nascent | adj. | beginning to exist or develop | ||
| nastic | adj. | (of plant movement) caused by external stimulus which does not determine direction of response | biology | |
| natheless | adv. | nevertheless | archaic | |
| nathemore | adv. | nevermore | archaic | |
| natter | v. | to prate | colloquial | |
| nautch | n. | sensuous dance of South Asia; professional dancing-girl who performs such dance | ||
| nave | n. | the principal area of a church, loosely parallel to the longest arm of the Christian cross in cross-shaped churches | architecture | |
| navvy | n. | manual laborer, esp. on construction project | British | |
| neap tide | n. | tide between new and full moon (or vice versa), when high and low tides differ by the least | ||
| neatherd | n. | cowherd | ||
| nebby | adj. | meddlesome, nosy | ||
| necessarium | n. | privy in a monastery; outhouse, latrine | ||
| neesing | n. | sneezing; snorting | obsolete | |
| nef | n. | table accessory in the shape of a boat, used to hold utensils etc.; incense-boat | ||
| nefandous | adj. | execrable, appalling, unspeakable | archaic | |
| nefarious | adj. | extremely wicked | ||
| neglection | n. | neglect, negligence | obsolete | |
| negus | n. | sweetened wine and hot water, with lemon and spice | ||
| nekyia | n. | necromantic rite in Ancient Greece | ||
| nem. con. | adv. | “nemine contradicente”, no one dissenting, unanimously | Latin | |
| nepenthe | n. | drink inducing forgetfulness of pain or sorrow | ||
| nepotism | n. | favoritism towards family members | ||
| nerk | n. | fool, dolt | British | |
| nescience | n. | the state of not knowing | ||
| nestle-cock | n. | last or weakest hatchling in a brood; spoilt child | ||
| nether | adj. | lower, under; lying beneath the earth’s surface, infernal, underworldly | ||
| network | n. | light fabric made of netted threads; any work in which threads etc. are made in form of a net | ||
| neurasthenic | n. | person suffering from a nervous breakdown | ||
| névé | n. | granular glacier snow, firn | ||
| newel | n. | central post around which a spiral staircase descends; post at head or foot of stair supporting railing | ||
| nichrome | n. | alloy of nickel and chromium | ||
| nictitate | v. | to wink or to blink | ||
| nictitating membrane | n. | third or inner eyelid for protection from dust and keeping eyes moist | ||
| 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 |
