English

Nickelodeon

From nickel (“coin worth 5 cents”) + odeon.

A compound of nickel ‘coin worth 5 cents’ + odeon

Ancient Greek λᾱός ‘people’

Ancient Greek Νῑκόλᾱος

Latin Nīcolāus

German Nikolaus ‘a representation of St. Nicholas’

German Nickel

Proto-Hellenic *awéidō ‘to sing’

Ancient Greek ᾰ̓είδω ‘to sing’

Ancient Greek ᾠδή ‘song’

Ancient Greek ᾠδεῖον

English odeon

Today it means

noun A small, rudimentary movie theater that charged five cents for admission, popular in North America from about 1905 to 1915.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Nickelodeon