nygardie

Middle English

Etymology

From nygard (“miser”) +‎ -ie, from nig (“niggardly person”). See niggard.

Noun

nygardie (countable and uncountable, plural not attested)

1. niggardliness, stinginess, miserliness.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Shypmans Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio lxxv, verso, column 1, line 172:

     But yet me greueth moſte his nygardye

     Yet I grieve most for his niggardliness

2. (colloquial) A niggard, a stingy person, a miser.

Derived terms

• (obsolete) niggardy