Neat meaning
A room where everything is put away is an example of a neat room.
A person who always has clean clothes and who is always well-groomed is an example of a neat person.
A perfectly drawn straight line is an example of a neat line.
A really cool new painting is an example of a neat painting.
Neat profit.
A neat turn of phrase.
Neat whiskey.
That was a neat party.
I like my whisky neat.
The Arbuzov reaction is performed by adding the bromide to the phosphite, neat.
The molecular beam was neat acetylene.
The front room was neat and carefully arranged for the guests.
Having the two protagonists meet in the last act was a particularly neat touch.
Hey, neat convertible, man.
An example of something neat is a well-planned and well-executed project.
Origin of neat
- Anglo-Norman neit clear, pure variant of Old French net from Latin nitidus elegant, gleaming from nitēre to shine
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Middle English net from Old English nēat
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English *nete, net, nette (> Modern net "good, clean"), from Anglo-Norman neit (“good, desireable, clean"), apparently a conflation of Old French net, nette ("clean, clear, pure"; from Latin nitidus (“gleaming"), from niteÅ (“I shine")) and Middle English *neit, nait ("in good order, trim, useful, dextrous"; from Old Norse neytr (“fit for use, in good order"), from Proto-Germanic *nautiz (“useful, helpful")). See nait.
From Wiktionary
- From Middle English nete, neat, from Old English nÄ“at (“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle"), from Proto-Germanic *nautÄ… (“foredeal, profit, property, livestock"), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of"). Cognate with Dutch noot (“cow, cattle", in compounds), dialectal German Noß (“livestock"), Swiss German Nooss (“young sheep or goat"), Swedish nöt (“cattle"), Icelandic naut (“cattle"). More at note.
From Wiktionary