nimmer

From Middle English nimere, equivalent to nim (“to filch, steal”) +‎ -er. Cognate with Dutch nemer (“taker”), German Nehmer (“taker”).

nimmer (plural nimmers)

1. A petty thief.[1]

• mermin

From Middle Dutch nemmer, from Old Dutch niemer. Equivalent to n- +‎ immer.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪ.mər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nim‧mer
• Rhymes: -ɪmər

nimmer

1. (formal or dated) never

Nimmer is rarer and nowadays considered much more formal than nooit, excluding some compounds and set expressions.

• nooit

• nooit en te nimmer
• nimmermeer
• nooit ofte nimmer

Perhaps originally ni- +‎ immer, thus the same construct as English ever and never. According to others a dialectal contraction of nie mehr, later remodelled according to immer.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪmər/

• Audio

  (file)

nimmer

1. (regional, chiefly Southern German, Austria) no more, no longer

   Liegt der Bauer tot im Zimmer, lebt er nimmer. (joke in the form of a Bauernregel)

   If the farmer lies dead in his room, he's alive no more.

2. (regional, chiefly Southern German, Austria) never again
3. (archaic or poetic, literary) never, at no time
   • 1952, Paul Celan, “Espenbaum [Aspen Tree]”, in Mohn und Gedächtnis, line 2:

     Meiner Mutter Haar ward nimmer weiß.

     Never did my mother's hair become white.

• In northern Germany and many parts of central Germany, the word is used mainly in some set phrases such as nie und nimmer (“never ever”). Otherwise, it sounds archaic or poetic. It is used more readily in southern Germany and Austria, meaning “no more” or “never again”. The original sense “never, at no time” is now rare.

• (no more): nicht mehr
• (never again): nie mehr, nie wieder
• (never): nie, niemals

• nimmermehr
• Nimmersatt

• “nimmer” in Duden online
• “nimmer” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache