Hypertext Webster Gateway: "nickname"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Nickname \Nick"name`\, n. [OE. ekename surname, hence, a
nickname, an ekename being understood as a nekename,
influenced also by E. nick, v. See {Eke}, and {Name}.]
A name given in contempt, derision, or sportive familiarity;
a familiar or an opprobrious appellation.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Nickname \Nick"name`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nicknamed}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Nicknaming}.]
To give a nickname to; to call by a nickname.
You nickname virtue; vice you should have spoke.
--Shak.
I altogether disclaim what has been nicknamed the
doctrine of finality. --Macaulay.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
nickname
n : a familiar name (often a shortened version of a person's
given name); "Joe's mother would not use his nickname and
always called him Joseph" [syn: {moniker}, {cognomen}, {sobriquet},
{soubriquet}]
v : give a nickname to [syn: {dub}]
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