# nickname

Pronunciation: US say "NIK-naym" /ˈnɪkneɪm/; UK

## Noun

1. An informal name used instead of a person's or thing's real name, often based on a notable trait or a short form of the real name.
   - Simple: A different, informal name for someone or something, often a short form of the real name, like Liz for Elizabeth.
   - _Because of his height, the center earned the nickname "the Tower" in his first season._
   - _Locals gave the old steel bridge a nickname, the Rusty Mile, long before the city repainted it._

## Verb

2. To give someone or something an informal name in place of the real one.
   - Simple: To give a person or thing a nickname.
   - _Reporters nicknamed the storm "the Beast" before it even reached land._
   - _Players on the team like to nickname each new member during the first practice._

## Origin

From Middle English neke name, a change of the earlier ekename, from eke, “additional,” + name: “an ekename” was split wrongly as “a nekename.” Compare Old Norse auknefni and Swedish öknamn.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/nickname (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).