Meaning

originUnadapted borrowing from Latin nētē, from Ancient Greek νήτη (nḗtē, literally “lowest [string]”). It was "lowest" in the sense of being the farthest from the player and physically below the other strings, but was the highest in pitch. Compare the high E string in a modern guitar, which is farthest from the player.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0