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-nik

-nik

 Origin

-nik

 
a suffix of nouns that refer, usually derogatorily, to persons who support or are concerned or associated with a particular political cause or group, cultural attitude, or the like: beatnik, filmnik; no-goodnik; peacenik.
Origin:
< Yiddish (compare nudnik) < Slavic: a personal suffix in Slavic languages in contact with Yiddish
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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-nik is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
-nik
 
—suffix forming nouns
denoting a person associated with a specified state, belief, or quality: beatnik; refusenik
 
[C20: from Russian -nik, as in Sputnik, and influenced by Yiddish -nik (agent suffix)]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

-nik
as in beatnik, etc., suffix used in word formation from c.1945, from Yiddish -nik (cf. nudnik "a bore"), from Rus. -nik, common personal suffix meaning "person or thing associated with or involved in" (cf. kolkhoznik "member of a kolkhoz"). Rocketed to popularity with sputnik (q.v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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