English

Proper noun

Netty

1. A female given name.

English

Alternative forms

• nettie, neddy

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 adjs.”).^[2]

Adjective

netty ‎(comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

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

Of uncertain etymology. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary ‎(“euphemism for outhouse”); French nettoyer ‎(“to cleanse”); and Italian gabbinetti ‎(“toilets”).^[3]

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, Uncertain Sound, Ch. iii, p. 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, p. 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, Vol. IV, p. 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 Wikisaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Wikisaurus:toilet

References

1. ↑ "† netty, adj.¹" in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. ↑ "netty, adj.²" in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. ↑ "netty, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ISBN 1904794165
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin,
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977
• The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Frank Graham, 1986, Butler Publishing; New edition, ISBN 0946928088