nickname

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈnɪkneɪm/ See IPA manual

Freq #5925

Meanings

1

noun
An informal name for a person, often a short or funny version of their real name.

My friends call me by my nickname, but my parents use my full name.
2

noun
An informal name given to a place or thing because of a notable feature.

"The Big Apple" is a common nickname for New York City.
3

verb
To give someone or something a nickname.

They nicknamed him "Speedy" because he ran so fast.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an informal name for a... cognomen

3 verb · to give someone or... dub

More bynameeponym handle moniker nick sobriquet surname

Word family

Forms nicknamednicknamesnicknaming

Derived forms nicknameablenicknameenicknamelessnicknamernicknamey

Simplified etymology

Nickname developed from Middle English eke-name, literally “additional name,” in which eke meant “additional.” The phrase an eke-name was mistakenly divided as a neke name and later became a nickname.

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.

neke name Middle English *h₂ewg- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Register & Style

External links

# nickname

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈnɪkneɪm/
**Frequency rank:** 5925

## Meanings
1. An informal name for a person, often a short or funny version of their real name.
2. An informal name given to a place or thing because of a notable feature.
3. To give someone or something a nickname.

## Examples
- My friends call me by my nickname, but my parents use my full name.
- "The Big Apple" is a common nickname for New York City.
- They nicknamed him "Speedy" because he ran so fast.

## Synonyms
- byname
- cognomen
- eponym
- handle
- moniker
- nick
- sobriquet
- surname

## Derived Forms
- nicknameable
- nicknamee
- nicknameless
- nicknamer
- nicknamey

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: neke name
- Root: *h₂ewg-

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Nickname comes 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. The historical chain includes Middle English neke name and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-. Modern senses include an informal name for a person, often a short or funny version of their real name and an informal name given to a place or thing because of a notable feature. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nicknameable, nicknamee, nicknameless, nicknamer, and nicknamey.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Register & Style

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