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nickname

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6 dictionary results for: Nickname

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

nick·name

[nik-neym] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -named, -nam·ing.

–noun

1.	a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity: He has always loathed his nickname of “Whizzer.”

2.	a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to give a nickname to (a person, town, etc.); call by a nickname.

4.	Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME nekename, for ekename (the phrase an ekename being taken as a nekename). See eke², name; cf. newt

]

—Related forms

nicknamer, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

nick·name (nĭk'nām') Pronunciation Key
n.

A descriptive name added to or replacing the actual name of a person, place, or thing.
A familiar or shortened form of a proper name.

tr.v. nick·named, nick·nam·ing, nick·names

To give a nickname to.
Archaic To call by an incorrect name; misname.

[Middle English neke name, from a neke name, alteration of an eke name : eke, addition (from Old English ēaca; see aug- in Indo-European roots) + name, name; see name.]

nick'nam'er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nickname

1440, misdivision of ekename (1303), an eke name, lit. "an additional name," from O.E. eaca "an increase," related to eacian "to increase" (see eke).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

nickname
noun
1.	a familiar name for a person (often a shortened version of a person's given name); "Joe's mother would not use his nickname and always called him Joseph"; "Henry's nickname was Slim"
2.	a descriptive name for a place or thing; "the nickname for the U.S. Constitution is 'Old Ironsides'"
verb
1.	give a nickname to [syn: dub]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nickname

Nick"name`\, n. [OE. ekename surname, hence, a nickname, an ekename being understood as a nekename, influenced also by E. nick, v. See Eke, and Name.] A name given in contempt, derision, or sportive familiarity; a familiar or an opprobrious appellation.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nickname

Nick"name`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nicknamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Nicknaming.] To give a nickname to; to call by a nickname.

You nickname virtue; vice you should have spoke. --Shak.

I altogether disclaim what has been nicknamed the doctrine of finality. --Macaulay.

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