Definition of NICKNAME

nickname

Meanings

Plural: nicknames

Noun

  • 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"
  • a descriptive name for a place or thing
    • "the nickname for the U.S. Constitution is `Old Ironsides'"
  • A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic.
  • A familiar, shortened or diminutive name for a person or thing.

Verb

  • give a nickname to
  • To give a nickname to (a person or thing).

Origin / 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.

Scrabble Score: 16

nickname is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
nickname is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
nickname is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 20

nickname is a valid Words With Friends word