15,000 words and phrases from more than 50 languages and their

nil consuetudine maius 220
nil consuetudine maius [L], nothing is greater (or stronger) than custom:
Ovid.
nil desperandum [L], nothing must be despaired of; never despair:
Horace.
nil (or nihil) dicit [L], he says nothing; he makes no answer; the
defendant has no defense: law.
nil fuit umquam sic impar sibi [L], nothing was ever so inconsistent
with itself: Horace.
nil magnum nisi bonum [L], nothing is great unless good.
nil mortalibus arduum est [L], nothing is too difficult for mortals to
accomplish: Horace.
nil nisi Cruce [L], naught save by the Cross.
nil sine Deo [L], nothing without God.
nil sine magno vita labore debit mortalibus [L], life has given nothing
to man without great labor: Horace.
nil sine numine [L], nothing without divine will: motto of Colorado.
nil ultra [L], nothing beyond; the utmost limit.
ni l'un ni l'autre [Fr], neither the one nor the other.
nimium ne crede colori [L], trust not too much to a beautiful complexion
(or to appearances): Virgil.
n'importe [Fr], it's no matter; it's of no consequence.
ninguno nace maestro [Sp], no one is born an expert.
niño [Sp; fern, niña], child.
nirvana [Skr], Buddhist state of grace and nondesire.
nisei [Jap], lit., second generation; a son or daughter of immigrant
Japanese (issei) who is born and educated in America. Cf. KIBEI.
nisi [L], unless; if not; designating that a decree, order, rule, or the
like, will become effective at a given time unless previously modified
or rescinded: law. —nisi Dominus frustra, except the Lord (build
the house, they labor) in vain: motto of Edinburgh. —nisi prius, lit.,
unless before; orig., a writ directing the sheriff to bring a jury to
Westminster on a certain day, "unless before" that day, a justice of
assizes should come to the county in question; hence, a nisi prius
court is one held for the trial of civil cases before a judge and jury:
law.
nisus [L], endeavor; effort; striving; conatus. —nisus formativus,
creative effort; vital principle.
nitor in adversum [L], I press forward to the opposite side; I strive
against opposition: Ovid.
Nivôse [Fr], in the Revolutionary calendar of the first French Republic,
the fourth month of the year, from Dec. 21 to Jan. 19.
nizam [Hind, Turk, & Ar], lit., order; arrangement; Turkey, soldier (or
soldiers) of the Turkish regular army; India, administrator; viceroy,
esp. under the Moguls. —Nizam, title of the ruling prince of Hyderabad,
formerly the largest native state in India.