i noun, plural nan·nies.
a person, usually with special training, employed to care for children in a household.
Origin:
1785–95; nursery word; compare Welsh nain grandmother, Greek nánna aunt, Russian nyánya nursemaid
1785–95; nursery word; compare Welsh nain grandmother, Greek nánna aunt, Russian nyánya nursemaid
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
a female given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To nanny
00:10
Nanny
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
nanny (ˈnænɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -nies | |
| 1. | a nurse or nursemaid for children |
| 2. | a. any person or thing regarded as treating people like children, esp by being patronizing or overprotective |
| b. (as modifier): the nanny state | |
| 3. | a child's word for grandmother |
| —vb , -nies, nannies, nannying, nannied | |
| 4. | (intr) to nurse or look after someone else's children |
| 5. | (tr) to be overprotective towards |
| [C19: child's name for a nurse] | |
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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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
nanny
"children's nurse," 1795, from widespread child's word for "female adult other than mother" (cf. Gk. nanna "aunt"). The word also is a nickname form of the fem. proper name Anne, which probably is the sense in nanny goat (1788, cf. billy goat). The verb meaning "to be unduly protective" is from 1954.
Nanny-house "brothel" is slang from c.1700.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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