soccer
UK /ˈsɒk.ə/ · US /ˈsɑk.ɚ/ noun, verb
Forms soccers soccering soccered socker socca
- noun (originally UK, late 19th C, now chiefly US, Australia, Ireland, Philippines, and other countries; see usage notes) Association football.
- verb (Australian rules football) To kick the football directly off the ground, without using one's hands.
Synonyms
association football football soccer football footy footie footer oikball wogball American football gridiron gridiron football Canadian football Aussie rules VFL AFL league ball pill soccer ball pigskin
Etymology
Originally British English; as an abbreviation for association football, via abbreviation assoc. + -er (suffix); earlier socker (1885), also socca (1889), with soccer attested 1888.
Compare contemporary rugger, from rugby. Similarly constructed coinages from the same period include: brekker (“breakfast”), fresher (“freshman”) and footer (“football”). See Oxford -er.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “soccer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details