An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/nie

by Friedrich Kluge

nie, adverb, from the equivalent Middle High German nie, Old High German nio, neo, ‘never’; a compound of ni and eo, ‘not ever,’ like Old Saxon nio from ni io, Anglo-Saxon nâ from ne â; in Gothic the two words were kept separate, ni aiw, ‘never.’ With regard to the negative ni see nicht; and for Old High German io, Gothic aiw, Compare je.