Wiktionary

nickname

See also: Nickname

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English nekename, alteration (due to a rebracketing of an ekename as a nekename) of earlier ekename (“nickname”), from eke (“additional”) + name.[1] Compare Old Norse aukanafn, auknafn, auknefni, Faroese eyknevni, Danish øgenavn, Norwegian Nynorsk aukenamn, Swedish öknamn, and German Low German Ökelname.

For other similar cases of incorrect division, see also apron, daffodil, newt, orange, umpire.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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nickname (plural nicknames)

  1. A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic.
    "The Big Apple" is a common nickname for New York City.
    • 2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 329:
      He excelled with the arbalest steel crossbow, winning the nickname the Arbalestier and joined Bahriyya regiment, the crack soldiers who defeated the Crusaders and became known as the Turkish Lions and the Islamic Templars.
  2. A familiar, shortened or diminutive name for a person or thing.
    My name is Jonathan, but I go by my nickname, Johnny.

Usage notes

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Nicknames are often given in quotation marks between the first and last names. For example: Sammy "The Bull" Gravano.

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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  • (familiar invented given name): hypocoristic, pet name (affectionate nicknames); see epithet (invented names used alongside the actual name)

Descendants

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  • → German: Nickname
  • → Japanese: ニックネーム (nikkunēmu)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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nickname (third-person singular simple present nicknames, present participle nicknaming, simple past and past participle nicknamed)

  1. (transitive) To give a nickname to (a person or thing).
    Gerald, nicknamed "Jerry", was usually a very cheerful person.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Arika Okrent (2019 July 5) “12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms”, in Mental Floss‎[1], Pocket, retrieved 2021-10-08
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