Chapter Nation of Gentlemen to Nebo of N by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Natural (A). A born idiot; one on whom education can make no impression. As nature made him, so he remains.
   A natural child. One not born in lawful wedlock. The Romans called the children of concubines naturales, children according to nature, and not according to law.

“Cui pater est populus, pater est sibi nullus omnes;
Cui pater est populus not habet ille patrem.”
Ovid.

Nature In a state of nature. Nude or naked.

Naught (not “nought”). Naught is Ne (negative), aught (anything). Saxon náht, which is ne áht (not anything).

“A headless man had a letter [o] to write.
He who read it [naught] had lost his sight.
The dumb repeated it [naught] word for word,
And deaf was the man who listened and heard [naught].”
Dr. Whewell.

Naught meaning bad.

“The water is naught.”- 2 Kings, ii. 19.

Naughty Figs (Jeremiah xxiv. 2). Worthless, vile (Anglo-Saxon náht, i.e. n negative, aht aught). We still say a “naughty boy,” a “naughty girl,” and a “naughty child.”

“One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe. ... The other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten.”

Navigation Father of navigation. Don Henrique, Duke of Viseo, the greatest man that Portugal ever produced. (1394-1460.)
   Father of British inland navigation. Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1803).

Navvy A contraction of navigator. One employed to make railways.

“Canals were thought of as lines of inland navigation, and a tavern built by the side of a canal was called a `Navigation Inn.' Hence it happened that the men employed in excavating canals were called `navigators,' shortened into navvies.”- Spencer: Principles of Sociology, vol. i. appendix C, p. 834.

Nay-word Pass-word. Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor, says-

“We have a nay-word how to know each other. I come to her in white and cry Mum, she cries Budget, and by that we know one another”- Shakespeare.

Nayres (1 syl.). The aristocratic class of India. (See Poleas .)

Nazaræans or Nazarenes (3 syl.). A sect of Jewish Christians, who believed Christ to be the Messiah, that He was born of the Holy Ghost, and that He possessed a Divine nature; but they nevertheless conformed to the Mosaic rites and ceremonies. (See below.)

Nazarene (3 syl.). A native of Nazareth; hence our Lord is so called (John xviii. 5, 7; Acts xxiv. 5).

Nazareth Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (John i. 46). A general insinuation against any family or place of ill repute. Can any great man come from such an insignificant village as Nazareth?

Nazarite (3 syl.). One separated or set apart to the Lord by a vow. These Nazarites were to refrain from strong drinks, and to suffer their hair to grow. (Hebrew, nazar, to separate. Numb. vi. 1-21.)

Ne plus Ultra (Latin). The perfection or most perfect state to which a thing can be brought. We have Ne-plus-ultra corkscrews, and a multitude of other things.

Ne Sutor etc. (See Cobbler .)

Neæera Any sweetheart or lady love. She is mentioned by Horace, Virgil, and Tibullus.

“To sport with Amaryllis in the shade,
Or with the tangles of Neæra's hair.”
Milton: Lycidas.

Neapolitan A native of Naples; pertaining to Naples.