Old English

Verb

hnīgan

1. to bow
2. to bend
3. to sink

   Grundum ic hrine, helle underhnige, heofonas oferstige.. To the abyss I rine, to **** I sink below, the heavens I climb over (Exeter Book Riddles, 66).

Descendants

• Middle English: nicken, nikken ‎(“to nod; wink”) (intense form)
  • English: nick partly, also from a variant of nock.

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hnīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *kneygʷʰ- ‎(“to bend, to droop”).

Verb

hnīgan

1. to bow
2. to bend

Conjugation