Nickname
WordNet
noun
(1) 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"
(2) A descriptive name for a place or thing
"The nickname for the U.S. Constitution is `Old Ironsides'"
verb
(3) Give a nickname to
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From the older form eke-name, from Middle English eke, meaning also, and name; the n comes from hearing “an eke-name” as “a nickname”. Compare apple, newt, orange, ox, umpire.
Noun
- A familiar, invented given name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing.
- A kind of byname that describes a person by a characteristic of that person.
Synonyms
handle, hypocoristic, moniker, nick, sobriquet byname, cognomenVerb
- To give a nickname to (a person or thing).