An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Nix

by Friedrich Kluge

Nix, masculine, ‘nixey, water-fairy,’ from Middle High German (very rare) nickes, Old High German nihhus, neuter and masculine, ‘crocodile’; compare Anglo-Saxon nicor, ‘hippopotamus,’ English nick, ‘water-sprite’ (Old Nick, applied to the devil), Middle Dutch nicker, ‘water-sprite,’ Old Icelandic nykr (from *niqiza), ‘water-sprite in the form of a hippopotamus,’ also ‘hippopotamus.’ The Old High German and Middle High German sense ‘crocodile’ is easily associated with the other meanings of the cognates; the primary signification may be ‘fabulous sea-monster.’ The word is probably based on a Teutonic root niq from pre-Teutonic nig (Sanscrit nij, Greek νίπτω), ‘to wash oneself’; thus Nix would mean originally ‘a sea-animal that delights in bathing, sea-spirit,’ while the masculine Nix, like Anglo-Saxon nicor, points to Gothic *niqiza, *nikuza-, the corresponding feminine Nixe, preserved only in High German, indicates Gothic *niqisi; Old High German nicchessa, Middle High German *nickese, *nixe, in waȥȥernixe, feminine, ‘female water-sprite,’ for which in Middle High German męrwîp and męrmeit are used.