newt
(njuːt)
Forms: 5–6 neute, 5–7 newte, 6–7 nute; 5 newtt, 6–7 neut, 6– newt.
[For ewt (with n- from an: see N 3), var. of evet eft n.1 The change of v to w is unusual, and the intermediate form euft neuft is also difficult to explain.]
A small tailed amphibian (Triton), allied to the salamander, of which two or three species are common in Britain; an eft or ask.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 865 For rotyng of the crop the galle is boote To towche hem with of neutes grene [L. lacertæ viridis]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 355/2 Newte, or ewte, wyrme, lacertus. 1530 Palsgr. 248/1 Newte a worme, lisarde. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xiii. viii. (1886) 246 Our newt is..like to the lizzard in shape. 1627 May Lucan ix. 826 The water-spoyling Newte, the dart-like Snakes. 1699 Garth Dispens. 79 Where hateful Nutes and painted Lizzards sleep. 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy IV. xxvii, A Newt, or an Asker, or some such detested reptile. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 113 Though the Newt may be looked upon in this contemptible light. 1818 Shelley Marenghi xix, He had tamed every newt and snake and toad. 1870 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. (1875) 454 The Water-salamanders or Newts are distinguished from the terrestrial forms by being furnished with a compressed fish⁓like tail, and by being strictly oviparous. |
| Comb. 1891 Daily News 14 Sept. 5/4 A small newt-like creature from North America, which is known as the spotted eft. |