Word Stories: nim

Steve Taylore-Knowles looks at the stories behind the English language.

In the mathematical realm of game theory, there is a simple game that has been analyzed and which is often used to exemplify basic principles. You may have played some variation of it. In this game, two players place a row of matchsticks between them. They take it in turns to take either 1, 2 or 3 matchsticks and the person who takes the last matchstick loses (or wins, depending on the variation being played). Not a game that is likely to displace chess as an intellectual pursuit, but I mention it because of its name: nim.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, nim was a verb, meaning ‘steal’ and was weak (or regular). It was the offspring of a strong Old English verb meaning ‘take’: niman. Niman became a victim of the Viking invasions of Britain and was displaced by the Old Norse taka (take). It had disappeared by the 16th century, but its cousin survived across the North Sea in Germany, the modern German word for ‘take’ being nehmen.

The preterite and past participle of niman were nam and numen, respectively. Compare this to another Old English verb: swimman (swim), swam (swam), swummen (swum) and you can see what the fate of this verb might have been had it survived to the present day in its strong form. In fact, one part of it has survived. The past participle numen lives on in the modern English word numb, thus spelled from the 17th century on. The original sense is that of being ‘taken’ by cold or grief and so being unable to feel. A closely related word is numskull (stupid person, also spelled numbskull).

One other word ultimately derived from niman is the adjective nimble (originally, ‘quick to take’, and then ‘agile, quick, alert’). And that’s about it. A word that was once as much a part of everyday life as take is now was ousted by an invader and left very little trace in modern English. A ruthless business, language change.

If you google the word ‘nim’, you’ll find a number of sites that explain the maths behind nim and allow you to play various versions against computer opponents. Just don’t expect to win.

If there are any aspects of English words you've always wondered about, drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll see if I can come up with an answer.