-nik
Encyclopedia
The English
suffix
-nik is of Slavic
origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun
(that is, it describes a person related to the thing, state, habit, or action described by the word to which the suffix is attached). In the cases where a native English language coinage may occur, the "-nik"-word often bears an ironic connotation.
as known since 1723. There have been two main waves of the introduction of this suffix into English language. The first one is Yinglish
words contributed by Yiddish speakers from Eastern Europe
. The second surge was observed after the launch of the Sputnik by the Soviet Union
in 1957.
In his book The American Language
(first edition published in 1919), H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) credits the postwar mania for adding "-nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns as beginning, not with "beatnik" or "Sputnik", but earlier - in the American comic strip
Li'l Abner
(1934-77), by Al Capp
.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
-nik is of Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun
Agent noun
In linguistics, an agent noun is a word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action. For example, "driver" is an agent noun formed from the verb "drive". The endings "-er", "-or", and "-ist" are commonly used in English to form agent...
(that is, it describes a person related to the thing, state, habit, or action described by the word to which the suffix is attached). In the cases where a native English language coinage may occur, the "-nik"-word often bears an ironic connotation.
History
The suffix existed in English in dormant state for a long time, in borrowed terms. An example is raskolnik, recorded by the Oxford English DictionaryOxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
as known since 1723. There have been two main waves of the introduction of this suffix into English language. The first one is Yinglish
Yinglish
Yinglish words are neologisms created by speakers of Yiddish in English-speaking countries, sometimes to describe things that were uncommon in the old country...
words contributed by Yiddish speakers from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. The second surge was observed after the launch of the Sputnik by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1957.
In his book The American Language
The American Language
The American Language, first published in 1919, is H. L. Mencken's book about the English language as spoken in the United States.Mencken was inspired by "the argot of the colored waiters" in Washington, as well as one of his favorite authors, Mark Twain, and his experiences on the streets of...
(first edition published in 1919), H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) credits the postwar mania for adding "-nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns as beginning, not with "beatnik" or "Sputnik", but earlier - in the American comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Li'l Abner
Li'l Abner
Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp , the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through...
(1934-77), by Al Capp
Al Capp
Alfred Gerald Caplin , better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats and Long Sam...
.
Mainstream
Words of significant context or usage:- Artnik, a UK publisher ; the word predates its establishment
- Badnik, Robots created by Dr. Ivo "Eggman" RobotnikDoctor Eggman, also known by his alias , is a fictional video game character, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Sega. Dr. Eggman is a rotund, mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire and is the archenemy of Sonic the Hedgehog...
. - BeatnikBeatnikBeatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
- ChainikChainikChainik is a term that implies both ignorance and a certain amount of willingness to learn , but does not necessarily imply as little experience or short exposure time as newbie and is not as derogatory as luser...
- Otkaznik
- Peaknik
- RefusenikRefusenikRefusenik originally referred to citizens of the former Soviet Union who were refused permission to emigrate.Refusenik or refusnik may also refer to:*An Israeli conscientious objector, see Refusal to serve in the Israeli military...
- Sputnik
Casual
Casual neologisms:- Alrightnik: one who has been successful (who has done all right); nouveau riche
- Computernik: a computer geekGeekThe word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
- Ipodnik: a person utterly devoted to iPodIPodiPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
s - Muttnik
- Neatnik: a neat-freak
- No-goodnik: a lazy or incompetent person
- Peacenik: a pacifist; a hippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
Jewish adaptation
Words originally used by Jews of Europe, America, and Israel, often referring to concepts related to their experiences or things happening in Israel or among the Jewish people:- Chabadnik or Habadnik: follower of ChabadChabad-LubavitchChabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
- Kadimanik: member of United Synagogue YouthUnited Synagogue YouthUnited Synagogue Youth is the youth movement of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. USY operates in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The goal of the movement is to bring Jewish teenagers closer to Judaism and Israel through learning and social interaction...
's Kadima program - Ka-tzetnik: a Nazi concentration camp prisoner or survivor, derived from abbreviation KZ, pronounced "Ka-tzet"
- Kibbutznik: member of a KibbutzKibbutzA kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
- Lamedvavnik
- Likudnik: supporter of Israeli political party LikudLikudLikud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
- Moshavnik: member of a MoshavMoshavMoshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
- Shinuinik: supporter of Israeli political party ShinuiShinuiShinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for...
- MapainikMapainikMapainik is a colloquial term for a member or supporter of Mapai, the historical Israeli Labour Party. The party has since changed its name to Ha'Avoda, but one can occasionally still encounter the term as an informal description for "old school" former and present members of Labour in Israel,...
: supporter of the historical Israeli labour party. - Netzernik: Member of the Netzer OlamiNetzer OlamiNetzer Olami is the worldwide youth movement of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and is affiliated to Arzenu . "Netzer" is an acronym in Hebrew for Reform Zionist Youth , and Netzer Olami means 'Global Netzer'...
youth movement - Nudnik: a nagging, boring or awkward person
- Reusenik: one who reuses and reuses and reuses again to rid the world of plastic.
Slavic languages
Native or constructed Slavic words originating in Slavic-speaking environments:- Chetnik
- Druzhinnik
- Kolkhoznik
- Kukuruznik
- NarodnikNarodnikNarodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...
- Namestnik
- OprichnikOprichnikAn oprichnik was a member of an organization established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to govern the division of Russia known as the Oprichnina ....
- PatatnikPatatnikPatatnik or patetnik is a Bulgarian potato dish characteristic of the Rhodope Mountains in the country's central south. Patatnik is made of grated potatoes, onions, salt and spearmint, all mixed and cooked on a slow fire...
- Peredvizhnik
- PolkovnikPolkovnikPolkovnik is often a military rank in Slavic countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states. However, in the Ukraine, polkovnyk was an administrative rank similar to a governor...
, the commander of a polk (regiment) - PosadnikPosadnikPosadnik was the mayor in some East Slavic cities or towns. Most notably, the posadnik was the mayor of Novgorod and Pskov...
- Raskolnik
- SotnikSotnikSotnik or Sotnyk was a military rank among the Cossack starshyna , Strelets Troops in Muscovy and Imperial Cossack cavalry , the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Ukrainian Galician Army, and the Ukrainian People's Army.-Military rank:Literally it means commander of hundred men in most Slavonic...
- Sovkhoznik (derived from the Soviet-constructed word sovkhozSovkhozA sovkhoz , typically translated as state farm, is a state-owned farm. The term originated in the Soviet Union, hence the name. The term is still in use in some post-Soviet states, e.g., Russia and Belarus. It is usually contrasted with kolkhoz, which is a collective-owned farm...
) - SubbotnikSubbotnikFor the Jewish-identifying community, see Subbotniks.Subbotnik and voskresnik were days of volunteer work following the Bolshevik seizure of power. The tradition is continued in modern Russia and some other former Soviet Republics...
- Syrnik
- UdarnikUdarnikUdarnik is a Russian, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian term for a superproductive worker in the Soviet Union and ex-Yugoslavia. The term is derived from the expression "udarny trud" for "superproductive, enthusiastic labour", which is often translated as strike labour , and udarnik as strike worker,...
- Varenik
- VodnikVodnikVodnik is a bandy club from Arkhangelsk in Russia. Vodnik was founded in 1925 and in the mid-1990s it became a major team in both Russian and international bandy...
- Voskresnik
- Varenik
- Zapadnik
- ZolotnikZolotnikA zolotnik was a small Russian unit of weight, equal to 0.1505 avoirdupois ounces, or 4.2658 grams . Used from the 10th to 20th centuries, its name is derived from the Russian word zoloto, meaning gold. It is therefore related to the words gold and yellow...
, an obsolete Russian measure of weight