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netty. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
netty, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
netty in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
netty you have here. The definition of the word
netty will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
netty, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
net (“elegant, neat”) + -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”)
Adjective
netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)
- (obsolete, rare) Neat, well-groomed, natty.
1573, Thomas Tusser, “Points of Huswifrie”, in Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry:
Etymology 2
net (“openwork fabric mesh”) + -y (“forming adjectives”)
Adjective
netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)
- Netted: made of or employing a net.
1587, Leonard Mascall, The Booke of Cattell: Sheep, page 214:Ye ought for to keepe them close, till the day haue taken the gellie or netty rime, from the earth.
- Netlike.
Etymology 3
Uncertain. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, a euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabinetto (“toilet”).
Noun
netty (plural netties)
- (Geordie) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
1825, John Trotter Brockett, Glossary of North Country Words::Neddy, Netty, a certain place that will not bear a written explanation, but which is depicted to the very life in a tail-piece in the first edition of Bewick's ‘Land Birds’ (1797), p. 285.
1978, John Lewis, chapter III, in Uncertain Sound, page 75:A line of pit cottages... tiny back gardens with outside lavatories, ‘netties’, some of them emptied twice a week by the council.
1992 May 4, The Independent, page 13:Our toilet was an outside netty shared between two or three families, where you sat on a hole and hoped the cat wouldn't jump at your backside.
- (Geordie) Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.
1903, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, page 255:Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.
Usage notes
Originally reckoned euphemistic.
Synonyms
References
- ^ "† netty, adj.¹" in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ "netty, adj.²" in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ "netty, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin,
- Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977
- The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Frank Graham, 1986, Butler Publishing; New edition, →ISBN