Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A recess in a wall, as for holding a statue or urn.
- noun A cranny, hollow, or crevice, as in rock.
- noun A situation or activity specially suited to a person's interests, abilities, or nature.
- noun A special area of demand for a product or service.
- noun The function or position of an organism or population within an ecological community.
- noun The range of environmental conditions within which the members of a given species can survive and reproduce.
- transitive verb To place in a niche.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To furnish with a niche or with niches.
- To place in a niche, literally or figuratively.
- noun A nook or recess; specifically, a recess in a wall for the reception of a statue, a vase, or other ornament.
- noun Hence Figuratively, a position or condition in which a person or thing is placed; one's assigned or appropriate place.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A cavity, hollow, or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament. Hence, any similar position, literal or figurative.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun architecture A
cavity ,hollow , orrecess , generally within thethickness of awall , for a statue, bust, or othererect ornament . Hence, any similar position, literal or figurative. - noun biology A function within an
ecological system to which anorganism is especiallysuited . - noun by extension Any
position of opportunity for which one is well-suited, such as a particular market in business. - noun An arrow woven into a Muslim prayer rug pointing in the direction of Mecca.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (ecology) the status of an organism within its environment and community (affecting its survival as a species)
- noun a position particularly well suited to the person who occupies it
- noun a small concavity
- noun an enclosure that is set back or indented
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"I'm going to sit down and talk with the offense, defense, special teams, and let them know what I think my niche is and where I should be spending my time," Haywood said.
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"This is what we call niche brand building," said the handsome Mr. Lannung, who was dressed in a suit by Buckler, a company that sponsored his evening out.
Social Networks for Models Marshall Heyman 2011
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The word niche is useful in a marketing context, but not so much in the context of a blog.
Shattering the Myth of Blog Niches: How to Grow a Huge Readership | Write to Done 2009
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Your niche is the oldest, grumpiest, grognardiest part of the gamer community!
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Across from this niche is a wall which hold a little spice rack, and that is the sum total of my kitchen (fridge, toaster oven and microwave are scattered in the living room).
Archive 2006-07-01 Nupur 2006
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The concept of a niche is a way to make sense of these changes.
A New Way to Be Mad 2000
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The concept of a niche is a way to make sense of these changes.
A New Way to Be Mad 2000
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He said the SCORE facility and other jails are marketing space designed for misdemeanor offenders, opening up what he called a niche market for higher-level offenders.
The Seattle Times 2011
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"While Pontiac was going to be a reduced division, down to what they call a niche brand, it obviously will no longer be after 2010," Bentley said.
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"While Pontiac was going to be a reduced division, down to what they call a niche brand, it obviously will no longer be after 2010," Bentley said.
fbharjo commented on the word niche
literally to build a nest?
February 1, 2007
qroqqa commented on the word niche
Not literally "build a nest", which it's never meant in English, but that seems to be the origin in French: a verb "nest", from an unattested Latin *nid-ic-. The earliest meaning of the noun in both French and English was its current one, "recess (for a statue)", derived in French from the verb. (The noun is from the verb because the -ch- reflects the verbalizing suffix -ic-.)
Both modern pronunciations of the vowel seem to have been present in the earliest use in English: 1600s spellings include neece, niece, niech, neech, nice as well as nitch, nich. By the 1800s only the nɪtʃ nitch one seems to have survived, with French-like niːʃ rearising in the 20th century, and now predominating in BrE.
This word is an example of a noun that has converted to an adjective (they're surprisingly rare), at least for many speakers: you can hear and see 'It's very niche' or 'rather niche', referring to something in a niche market. The ability to be modified by degree adverbials is a clear sign of adjective status.
February 26, 2009
GHibbs commented on the word niche
As an adjective, they talk of a 'niche market for ...'
November 13, 2011
qroqqa commented on the word niche
'Niche market', however, doesn't show what part of speech it is. It is natural to suppose 'niche' is a noun in that phrase (as in 'stock market', 'bear market'). It is the ability to be modified by adverbs that shows it has (for some people) become a noun.
November 14, 2011