How words of praise, blame and respect changed their meaning.
nice (adj.)
Collection
How We Judge
Calling someone nice is usually a compliment. When the word reached English from French in the late thirteenth century, it could mean foolish or ignorant. Behind it was Latin nescius, meaning unaware or not knowing.1
The change took centuries. Among its later meanings were fussy and hard to please, then delicate and precise. Something nice could require careful attention or a discriminating taste. By the eighteenth century the word was also being used for things that pleased, and later for people who were kind or considerate.1
Some of those meanings still coexist. A nice distinction is a subtle or precise distinction; someone with a nice palate is particular about what they taste. These uses preserve the exacting sense alongside the much broader approval in a nice day.2
It was nice of her to wait for us.