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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.