Young Matt knew the step of this horse as well as the sound of old Kate`s bell or the neighing of his own sorrel. Middle English neyen, Old English hnÇ£gan; similar to the Middle High German nÄgen zu neigh “old horse”, circa 1400, nagge “little riding horse, pony”, a word of unknown origin, possibly related to the Dutch negge, neg (but these are younger than the English word), perhaps in both cases related to the imitation of neighing. The notion of abuse “a worthless person”, often a woman, is a figurative meaning first recorded in the 1590s. For “the one who annoys by rumbling” (from 1925), see nag (v.). Middle English neighen, from Old English hnægan “to nhenn, to pronounce the cry of a horse”, probably of imitative origin (cf. Old Norse gneggja “neighing”, Middle High German negen, French hennir, Japanese inanaki). In Middle English also nyghe, neyen, nyen, nayʒen. Related: neighing; whimper. As a noun, “the cry of a horse, a groan”, from the 1510s. “No problem,” the horse said with a contemptuous neigh.
The sound a horse makes is called neighing. The happy neighing of a horse is sometimes a greeting to other horses. And at this moment, the calm air split into a terrible and piercing neighing of a frightened horse. You can use neighing to talk about the noise your horse makes, also known as moaning or screaming. Neigh is also a verb: horses neigh happily or frustrated, and your little brother may want to go around the house with a broomstick and neigh. The word comes from the Old English hnÆgan, which most likely mimics the actual sound of a neighing. In other words, it`s an example of onomatopoeia – when a word sounds like it means. The neighing of the vicuña, like that of other animals of its class, resembles a short, high-pitched whistle. “To Negeh,” 1774, Scottish and Northern dialect of English, of imitative origin (see Wieher).
Related: Nickered; Nickering. As he spoke, the horses began to neigh, sniff and fall wildly, forcing the driver to restrain them. A fleshy neighing came out of the man in front of him, naked and on all fours. before the 12th century, in the sense defined above.