1650s, "making or using a nest," present-participle adjective from nest (v.). Of objects, "fitted into one another," from 1934.
Entries linking to nesting
nest v.
Middle English nesten, from Old English nistan "to build (a bird's) nests, to make or live in a nest," from Proto-Germanic *nistijanan, from the source of nest (n.). The modern verb is perhaps a new formation in Middle English from the noun. Related: Nested; nesting.