nib

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
nib/nɪb/

▶noun

• 1 the pointed end part of a pen, which distributes the ink.

  ■ a pointed or projecting part of an object.

• 2 (nibs) shelled and crushed coffee or cocoa beans.

– derivatives
nibbed adjective.

– origin C16 (in the sense ‘beak, nose’): prob. from MDu. nib or Mid. Low Ger. nibbe, var. of nebbe (see neb).