netty

English

Alternative forms

• nettie, neddy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɛti/
• Rhymes: -ɛti

Etymology 1

From net (“elegant, neat”) +‎ -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”).

Adjective

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

1. (obsolete, rare) Neat, well-groomed, natty.
   • 1573, Thomas Tusser, “Points of Huswifrie”, in Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry:

     How prettie, how fine and how nettie,
     Good huswife should yettie.

Etymology 2

From net (“openwork fabric mesh”) +‎ -y (“forming adjectives”).

Adjective

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

1. Netted: made of or employing a net.
   • 1587, Leonard Mascall, The Booke of Cattell: Sheep, page 214:

     Ye ought for to keepe them close, till the day haue taken the gellie or netty rime, from the earth.

2. Netlike.

Etymology 3

Uncertain. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, a euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabinetto (“toilet”).

Noun

netty (plural netties)

1. (Geordie) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
   • 1825, John Trotter Brockett, Glossary of North Country Words::

     Neddy, Netty, a certain place that will not bear a written explanation, but which is depicted to the very life in a tail-piece in the first edition of Bewick's ‘Land Birds’ (1797), p. 285.

   • 1978, John Lewis, chapter III, in Uncertain Sound, page 75:

     A line of pit cottages... tiny back gardens with outside lavatories, ‘netties’, some of them emptied twice a week by the council.

   • 1992 May 4, The Independent, page 13:

     Our toilet was an outside netty shared between two or three families, where you sat on a hole and hoped the cat wouldn't jump at your backside.

2. (Geordie) Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.
   • 1903, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, page 255:

     Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.

Usage notes

Originally reckoned euphemistic.

Synonyms

• (outhouse): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

References

• Bill Griffiths, editor (2004), “netty”, in A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Northumbria University Press, →ISBN.
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “netty”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[1], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
• The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Frank Graham, 1986, Butler Publishing; New edition, →ISBN[3]