nisba

English

Alternative forms

• nesba, nisbah, nisbat, nisbe

Etymology

From Arabic نِسْبَة (nisba).

Noun

nisba (plural nisbas)

1. An Arabic derivational adjective formed with the suffix ـِيّ m (-iyy) / ـِيَّة f (-iyya), or the equivalent construction in another Semitic (or other Afroasiatic) language.
2. The part of an Arabic name consisting in such an adjective.
   • 2013, Zouhair Ghazzal, The grammars of adjudication: The economics of judicial decision making in fin-de-siècle Ottoman Beirut and Damascus‎^[1]:

     Knowing the nisbas of the litigants and their representatives was the qāḍī's single most important preliminary task.

Translations

grammar term

• Arabic: نِسْبَة (ar) f (nisba)
• German: Nisbe f
• Malay: nisbah (ms)
• Persian: نسبه (nesbe)
• Russian: ни́сба f (nísba)
• Tajik: нисба (nisba)
• Turkish: nispet eki (tr)
• Uyghur: نىسبەت (nisbet)

See also

• -i (English suffix derived from Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy))

Anagrams

• Bains, Basin, Bians, IBANs, Ibans, Nabis, Sabin, bains, basin, nabis, naibs, nisab, sabin

Italian

Etymology

Sometimes hypothesized to be from German nichts or nix da.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni.zba/
• Rhymes: -izba
• Hyphenation: nì‧sba

Adverb

nisba

1. (colloquial, regional) nix, none

   Synonyms: nulla, niente, (colloquial, jocular) nix

   • 1959, La cambiale:

     - Lei testimoni li ha?
     - Eh, l'avvocato! Testimoni - nisba!
     - E allora lo facciamo venire.
     - A chi?
     - A Nisba.
     - No, dicevo "nisba". Nessuno!

     - Do you have any witnesses?
     - Well, a lawyer! Witnesses, nix!
     - Then we'll have him come here.
     - Who?
     - Nix.
     - No, I meant "nix", no one!

Further reading

• nisba in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana