Words: neat [AHED]

(This word has never impressed me for its descriptiveness -- mainly it is a cliché that brings tidy to mind -- but its etymology does suggest shining or exemplary as well as pure.)

neat

ADJECTIVE:    Inflected forms: neat·er, neat·est
1. Orderly and clean; tidy. 2. Orderly and precise in procedure; systematic. 3. Marked by ingenuity and skill; adroit: a neat turn of phrase. 4. Not diluted or mixed with other substances: neat whiskey. 5. Left after all deductions; net: neat profit. 6. Slang Wonderful; terrific: That was a neat party.

ETYMOLOGY:    Anglo-Norman neit, clear, pure, variant of Old French net, from Latin nitidus, elegant, gleaming, from nitre, to shine.