nerdom
English edit
Etymology edit
nerd + -dom; attested in the USA from 1983.[1] Note that -dom is used both in the sense of “domain” (nerds, as a group) and in the sense of “characteristics” (being a nerd, nerdiness).
Pronunciation edit
- Hyphenation: nerd‧dom
Noun edit
nerdom (uncountable)
- (colloquial, rare) The attitudes and behaviours of a nerd; nerdiness.
- 1983 April 1, Nan Robertson, “Tigers or ‘top girls,’ Valerie Mahaffey adjusts”, in The New York Times[1], archived from the original on 20 December 2016:
- When she [Valerie Mahaffey] was 17 she fell in love with a schoolmate named Ben: 'Together, we pulled each other out of nerddom,' she said.
- 1997, Frederick S. Clarke, Cinefantastique, volume 29:
- The self-described "exemplar of nerdom" feels right at home with Carl Sagan's speculative science-fiction.
- 2008 October, Will Smith, “Why Does Hollywood Give Nerds a Bad Rap?”, in Maximum PC, San Francisco, Calif.: Future US, →ISSN, page 9:
- Even movies that first appear to add a promising element of nerdom always end up doing something dumb, like tarnishing a tense computer-based drama with idiotic and unusable (but oh so very sexy) 3D interfaces.
- (colloquial, rare) Nerds considered as a group.
Usage notes edit
The rough synonym geekdom is more common.[1]