The inherited spelling and /aɪ/ pronunciation remain stable as the modern sense profile settles.
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP RECORD
COVERAGE LEDGER ↗EDGE / 0155semantic continuationestablished
A CLAIM
YOU CAN AUDIT.
A relationship—not a generated explanation. Both endpoints, every editorial field, every citation, and every dossier reuse are preserved below.
nice
pleasant, agreeable, kind; also precise or discriminating
OPEN NODE 166 ↗DESCENDS FROM→
PARENT / EARLIER FORM / attestedMiddle English · 14th–16th centuries · foolish wantonnice
foolish, simple, wanton; later fastidious or precise
OPEN NODE 167 ↗01
THE COMPLETE RELATIONSHIP
EVERY FIELD, NOT A FAIRY TALE
Foolish, wanton, and fastidious senses move through precise and discriminating toward pleasant, agreeable, and kind.
Positive pleasant/agreeable senses become prominent in the nineteenth century.
Merriam-Webster Editors
established — The semantic history is multiply attested; no claim is made that one instantaneous shift produced the modern sense.
reviewed
02
CITATION REGISTER
SOURCES ON THIS EDGE
Nice — Word HistoryWord History; senses and etymology
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Records modern and obsolete senses and the Latin/French transmission.
What Does Nice Mean, Anyway?Semantic history of nice
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Explains the long polysemous path from ignorant/foolish toward modern positive senses.
03
EDITORIAL REUSE