نیک

See also: نيك and ن ي ك

Persian

Alternative forms

نیکو (niku), نکو (neku), نیوکو (nivaku)

Etymology

From Middle Persian [script needed] (nywk' /⁠nēk⁠/), [script needed] (nywkwk' /⁠nēkōg⁠/), the diminutive form of [Term?] (/⁠nēw⁠/),^[1] from Old Persian *naibakaʰ, from 𐎴𐎡𐎲 (n-i-b /⁠naibaʰ⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *naybah. Equivalent to (niv, “brave, valiant”) +‎ (-ak, diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈneːk/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [neːk]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [neːk]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [neːk]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [niːkʲ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [nek]

Readings
Classical reading^?	nēk
Dari reading^?	nēk
Iranian reading^?	nik
Tajik reading^?	nek

Adjective


Iranian Persian	نیک
Dari	نیک
Tajik	нек

نیک • (nik) (comparative نیک‌تَر, superlative نیک‌تَرین)

good
Synonyms: خوب (xub), به (beh), نغز (naġz)

Derived terms

نیک‌خواهی

Descendants

→ Bengali: নেক (nek)
→ Punjabi:
Gurmukhi script: ਨੇਕ (nek)

Shahmukhi script: نیک (nek)

Adverb


Iranian Persian	نیک
Dari	نیک
Tajik	нек

نیک • (nik)

well
(archaic) completely
- Tarikh-i Bayhaqi
  وی نیک از جای بشد.
  He completely lost his temper.

Derived terms

اندیشه نیک، گفتار نیک، کردار نیک (andiše-e nik, goftâr-e nik, kerdâr-e nik)

References

^ Oklor Skjærvø (2009) “Middle West Iranian” (chapter 4), in Gernot Windfuhr, editor, The Iranian Languages‎^[1] (in English), page 262: “[The suffix] -ak (-k) makes diminutives: and 'so much': and-ak 'a little'; nēw 'good': nēk 'good '; Man. M Pers. kōdak and kōdag 'small'.”