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Added 9 October 2026

nimble

/ˈnɪmbəl/ adjective

In Latin: pernix, agilis Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nimble at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Adept at taking or grasping.
nimble fingers
Quick and light in movement or action.
He was too nimble for the assailant and easily escaped his grasp.
Quickwitted and alert.
He has a nimble mind and can improvise in any situation.

verb

To move nimbly.

Origin

With intrusive -b-, inherited from Middle English nymyl, nemel, nemyll, nymell (“agile, quick, ready, able, capable”), a merger of Old English nǣmel (“receptive, quick to grasp”) and Old English numol (“able to take, capable of holding”), both from niman (“to take”) + -el, -ol (associative suffix), corresponding to nim + -le. Compare German nehmen, Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman), Old Norse nema (“to take”). More at nim.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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