nicely

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
nice/nʌɪs/

▶adjective

• 1 giving pleasure or satisfaction.

  ■ good-natured; kind.

• 2 fine or subtle: a nice distinction.

  ■ requiring careful attention.

• 3 archaic fastidious.

– phrases
nice and —— satisfactory in terms of the quality described.
nice one informal expressing approval.

– derivatives
niceish adjective,
nicely adverb,
niceness noun.

word history: The word nice entered Middle English in the sense ‘stupid’, from Latin nescius, meaning ‘ignorant’. It developed a range of senses, from ‘wanton and dissolute’ to ‘strange or rare’ and ‘coy or reserved’. It was first used with a positive connotation in the sense ‘fine or subtle’ in the 16th century, and the current main meanings, senses 1 and 2, are recorded from the late 18th century.