An N-spirational Quiz

Answer: nefarious

"Nefarious" comes from the Latin "nefarius", which means "execrable" or "abominable", and "nefarius" itself is derived from the Latin word "nefas", which refers to something contrary to what has been spoken by the gods as divine law. One may use the word to refer to "nefarious actions" or a "nefarious plot", such as in this sentence: The individuals seeking to overthrow the government were relying on nefarious methods, such as deception, blackmail, and murder.

However, one may also use the word to describe a person him or herself.

In the 1981 film "Raiders of the Lost Ark", one of the Nazi agents--Toht--shows up at Marian's bar in Tibet searching for the medallion for which Indiana Jones himself has been looking. Toht says to Marian, "Surely he mentioned there would be other interested parties". Marian replies, "Must have slipped his mind", and Toht responds, "The man is ... nefarious".

This is an instance of "the pot calling the kettle 'black'", as the expression goes.

Answer: nutria

The nutria is large enough to be mistaken by some as a beaver or an extremely large rat. It's head does resemble a beaver's and it is covered in brown fur; however, its tail is more like that of a rat than of a beaver. Its primary habitat is an area occupied by the nations of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile.

However, there are now pockets of these mammals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa because of entrepreneurs who sought to make a profit from what was at one time a lucrative nutria fur trade. For various reasons, such as hurricanes that destroyed nutria farms and a declining interest in the fur of these animals, nutria found themselves living independently in foreign habitats.

Unfortunately, these habitats were not adapted to the nutria's presence.

The nutria eats nearly 25% of its weight everyday and reproduces exponentially. Because of their constant eating and burrowing, they end up destroying the habitats of other animals, reducing food supplies for other animals, causing crop damage for farmers, and destroying human houses and machinery.

Answer: nacre

As a substance, nacre is composed of both organic and inorganic materials, and it is prized for its iridescent quality. It is found along the inside of some molluscs' shells and on the outside of pearls made by these same molluscs. However, not all molluscs with shells make nacre; in fact, most molluscs' shells are lined on the interior with a more porcellaneous material.

Some spoons or their bowls are made with nacre or mother of pearl because many individuals with sensitive palates are able to taste the metal of traditional spoons, which interferes with their being able to taste purely the food they are eating.

Answer: nosferatu

In an 1865 German article, Wilhelm Schmidt uses the word "nosferatu" to refer to the Romanian creature known as a vampire. In this article, Schmidt describes a "nosferatu" as an illegitimate offspring of two parents who were themselves illegitimate offspring or the reanimated corpse of an individual unfortunate enough to have been killed by a nosferatu. In 1885, British writer Emily Gerard explains in her article "Transylvanian Superstitions" that "nosferatu" is the Romanian word for "vampire", supports Schmidt's explanation of the origin of the creature, and further adds that a nosferatu can be killed only by a stake driven through its body as it lies in its coffin, by firing a bullet from a pistol into the coffin, by cutting off the head and reburying it with its mouth filled with garlic, or by cutting out the heart to burn it and strew the ashes over its grave. Of course, Bram Stoker uses the word "nosferatu" in his 1897 novel "Dracula", and the word serves as the title of the 1922 German horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok.

However, there is no historical record from Romania or Hungary that makes use of the word "nosferatu" and, thus, there is no real evidence of the origin of this word. Scholars can only speculate that "nosferatu" is some form of the Romanian word "nesuferitu", which means "the insufferable or repugnant one", or "necuratu", which means "unclean spirit". Both "nesuferitu" and "necuratu" are used in the common Romanian tongue to refer to Satan or the devil.

Answer: nadir

"Nadir" is sometimes used to refer to the lowest point of one's suffering--meaning one has reached the bottom of the proverbial pit. One might say, "Jonathan has reached the nadir of his misery and feels his situation cannot get any worse than it is." However, the older meaning of the word is due to its use in the field of astronomy. If one were to draw a straight line vertically downward from an observer to the perimeter of a sphere, that point would be the nadir. As such, the nadir is the opposite of the zenith, which is the point on the sphere directly over the position of the observer. In fact, the word "nadir" is a derivative of the Arabic word for "opposite to", the word "nazir". Thus, "nadir" literally refers to the "opposite of zenith".

Some in the field of medicine also use "nadir" to refer to a low point or count. For example, the lowest count of red blood cells in a sample taken from a patient might be referred to as a "nadir".

Answer: nosegay

A nosegay is a small bouquet of flowers, usually tightly bound together at their shortened stems. The term is, as one would guess, a combination of the words "nose" and "gay". During this occasion, the term "gay" is used as a noun and refers to "an ornament". Thus, the compound word refers to an ornament that is pleasing to the nose. During medieval times, a nosegay was often attached to a woman's bodice, worn around the neck, or carried by hand and frequently lifted near the nose. Not only did a nosegay provide a method of handling the odors of poor hygiene from the past, but, more importantly, people believed that evil spirits occupied stenches, and to prevent inhaling them, women would block the "evil smells" with the pleasant floral ones of nosegays.

Nowadays, nosegays are most often seen at weddings. The bride may carry her larger bouquet while the women in the bridal party are given the smaller nosegays. Sometimes, the bride may give nosegays to other important women at the wedding, such as her mother and her grandmothers. Occasionally, a bride may throw a nosegay to be caught by one of the single women in attendance rather than throwing her bouquet.

A nosegay is sometimes called a "posy". A "tussie-mussie", which became popular during Queen Victoria's reign, is a variation of the nosegay that consists of flowers that have symbolic meanings.

Answer: nepenthe

Nepenthe is mythical drug that chases away all sorrow. Literally, the word means "not sorrow" or "anti-sorrow", for "ne" means "not", and "penthe" is a derivative of "penthos", which means "sorrow" or "grief".

"Nepenthe" is often mentioned in literature and song. For example, Edgar Allan Poe refers to "nepenthe" in his poem "The Raven"; the speaker of the poem, the man who is beside himself with mental anguish because he longs for his lover the deceased Lenore, begs for "respite and nepenthe" so that he might forget all "memories of Lenore".

Nepenthes is also the name of the genus to which pitcher plant species belong.

Answer: nonplussed

"Nonplussed" is the past participle form of the verb "nonplus", which is no longer used in the English language. "Nonplus" is an antiquated verb from the Latin "non" and "plus", which means "no more" or "no further". As a participle used as an adjective describing a person, "nonplussed" suggests that that person can speak or react "no further" because he or she is too dumbfounded or flabbergasted to do so.

In the last few decades, speakers of U.S. English have altered the meaning of "nonplussed" or added another meaning to the word. Some Americans use "nonplussed" to mean "unperturbed" or "not bothered", which mostly is the opposite of what the word is intended to mean.

Answer: nettle

The common nettle is found throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa and, despite its ability to cause pain and burning sensations to those unfortunate enough to touch its leaves, has been used for medicines and textiles as well as a source of food and tea.

The stinging hairs on the plant's leaves serve as miniature hypodermic needles that often break off and remain in a person's skin while injecting histamine, neurotransmitters, and other chemicals. Often, the stinging sensations persist for some time after initial contact. On the island of Timor, one species of nettle is so potent that the person unfortunate enough to touch it often experiences not only a severe pain but tetanus-like symptoms for days or weeks.

Answer: a newel

The evolution of the word "newel" can be traced backwards to Middle English and then to Middle French and ultimately to the Latin "nucale", which is a word for "nut" or "nutlike". Obviously, "newel" originally must have referred to the decorative orbs at the tops of the supportive posts found at the bottoms and tops of staircases. However, the term eventually was used to refer to the post itself with some people still preferring to say the entire "newel post" rather than simply "newel".

Some spiral staircases are built with the steps radiating from one central post that stands from one floor to the next. That central post is often referred to as a "newel" and the entire staircase as a "newel staircase".