a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity: He has always loathed his nickname of “Whizzer.”.
2.
a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.
verb (used with object), nicknamed, nicknaming.
3.
to give a nickname to (a person, town, etc.); call by a nickname.
4.
Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.
Origin
1400-50;late Middle Englishnekename, for ekename (the phrase an ekename being taken as a nekename). See eke2, name; cf. newt
Related forms
nicknamer, noun
unnicknamed, adjective
Examples from the web for nickname
It is this habit that's given rise to their nickname, honey bears.
Everyone forgets the obvious: they have that nickname because they outnumbered every other living generation.
Such troglodytes, as their nickname suggests, often come from unfashionable parts of the country.
The bike earned its nickname because of the cooling fins on its cylinder head.
One reason the headquarters deserve that nickname is for their filth and disarray.
Plus, the school wants a new nickname for the field and are asking visitors to its website to chime in and vote.
There is some dispute about the origins of his nickname, but there is no dispute about his willingness to try anything.
Writer mentions several criminals by name, nickname and/or alias.
His latest nickname refers to his new career--designing, building, and selling specialty furniture.
He came abruptly from nowhere, to make his portrait an emblem and his nickname a byword in cities around the world.
British Dictionary definitions for nickname
nickname
/ˈnɪkˌneɪm/
noun
1.
a familiar, pet, or derisory name given to a person, animal, or place: his nickname was Lefty because he was left-handed
2.
a shortened or familiar form of a person's name: Joe is a nickname for Joseph
verb
3.
(transitive) to call by a nickname; give a nickname to
Word Origin
C15 a nekename, mistaken division of an ekename an additional name, from eke addition + name
Word Origin and History for nickname
n.
mid-15c., misdivision of ekename (c.1300), an eke name, literally "an additional name," from Old English eaca "an increase," related to eacian "to increase" (see eke; also see N). As a verb from 1530s. Related: Nicknamed; nicknaming.