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nickname

[ nik-neym ]
/ ˈnɪkˌneɪm /
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See synonyms for: nickname / nicknamed / nicknames / nicknaming on Thesaurus.com

noun
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.”
a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.
verb (used with object), nick·named, nick·nam·ing.
to give a nickname to (a person, town, etc.); call by a nickname.
Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.
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Origin of nickname

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

OTHER WORDS FROM nickname

nicknamer, nounun·nick·named, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nickname in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for nickname

nickname
/ (ˈnɪkˌneɪm) /

noun
a familiar, pet, or derisory name given to a person, animal, or placehis nickname was Lefty because he was left-handed
a shortened or familiar form of a person's nameJoe is a nickname for Joseph
verb
(tr) to call by a nickname; give a nickname to

Word Origin for nickname

C15 a nekename, mistaken division of an ekename an additional name, from eke addition + name
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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