nís ind. out, forth, away &c. (rarely used as an independent word [e.g. [AV. vi, 18, 3]; [vii, 115, 3]; [xvi, 2, 1]], but mostly as a prefix to verbs and their derivatives [cf. niḥ-√ kṣi &c. below], or to nouns not immediately connected with verbs, in which case it has the sense, ‘out of’, ‘away from’ [cf. nirvana, niṣ-kauśāmbi &c.] or that of a privative or negative adverb = 3. a, ‘without’, ‘destitute of’, ‘free from’, ‘un-’ [cf. nir-artha, nir-mala &c.], or that of a strengthening particle ‘thoroughly’, ‘entirely’, ‘very’ [cf. niḥ-śūnya, niṣ-kevala, nir-muṇḍa]; it is liable to be changed to niḥ, nir, niś, niṣ, and nī; cf. above and below).
See p. 543, col. 2.