Progression

nark (nark) noun

1. An annoying person.

2. A stool pigeon or informer

verb intr.

1. To irritate or annoy.

2. To be an informer.

[From Romany nak (nose). Ultimately from Indo-European root nas- (nose) that is also the source of other words for nose: English nose, Hindi nak, Spanish nariz, French nez, and related words nuzzle, nostril, and nasal.]

noun

A variant of narc: a police officer involved in investigating narcotics violations.

[From shortening of narcotic.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=nark

"He's a nark, complaining all the time."
Today's Footie Latest; The Sun (London, UK); Dec 3, 2004.

"They were going to teach the Heremaia boys a lesson - you don't nark on patched gang members."
Bridget Carter; The Short Sad Life of a Youth Who Took the Wrong Path; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland); Dec 4, 2004.

This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages.

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/nark.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/nark.ram

Permalink:
http://wordsmith.org/words/nark.html

Posted by Keya at January 6, 2005 06:02 PM