nickname
/ˈnɪkneɪm/ noun, verb
Forms nicknames nicknaming nicknamed
- noun 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.”
- noun A familiar, shortened or diminutive name for a person or thing. “My name is Jonathan, but I go by my nickname, Johnny.”
- verb (transitive) To give a nickname to (a person or thing). “Gerald, nicknamed "Jerry", was usually a very cheerful person.”
Synonyms
byname moniker nick to-name sobriquet handle cognomen surname eponym soubriquet dub
Etymology
From Middle English neke name, alteration (due to a rebracketing of an ekename as a nekename) of earlier ekename (“nickname”), from eke (“additional”) + name. 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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A name given in contempt, derision, or sportive familiarity; a familiar or an opprobrious appellation.
- verb To give a nickname to; to call by a nickname.
Etymology [OE. ekename surname, hence, a nickname, an ekename being understood as a nekename, influenced also by E. nick, v. See Eke, and Name.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nickname”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details