Etymograph

English

nickname

Nickname comes from Middle English neke name, a rebracketing of an ekename, from ek ‘also’ + name, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *auk ‘also’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*auk‘also’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘also, too’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēac‘also’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ekas eke‘also’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500ekename‘nickname’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500neke name‘nickname’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1945nickname

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*auk‘also’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘also, too’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēac‘also’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ekas eke‘also’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500ekename‘nickname’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500neke name‘nickname’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1945nickname

Earliest quotation: 1945, Elizabeth Gidley Withycombe, Introduction: “[…] Plato, who was named Aristocles after his grandfather,…”

The story

For other similar cases of incorrect division, see also apron, daffodil, newt, orange, umpire.

Linked words

pairs

  • nickname and eke both from Old English ēac ‘also’

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’

august, author, auction, auxiliary, augment, auteur, 11 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew ‘away, again’

autism, 7 more

Today it means

noun 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.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *auk / nickname

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