moniker English · revision 1952

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmɒn.ɪ.kə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmɑn.ɪ.kɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably from Shelta, the language of Irish Travellers,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) where ''mŭnnik'' “name” is said to be an alteration of [[ga|ainm|t=name]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(AHD) Etymonline calls the origin uncertain and also suggests [[monk]], since monks take new names.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A name or nickname (1851; 1849 in Etymonline, as a tramps' term).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is said to have begun as a tramps' term, and is found in the London underworld from 1851 as ''monekeer''.^(Etymonline) Its origin seemed obscure even in 1857, when a writer asked why ''moniker'' meant a name painted on a trunk.^(Etymonline) It is now a general informal word for a name or nickname.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1849 – a hobo term for a name.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1851 – a name, a nickname.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A name or nickname, especially an informal one or an alias.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[monicker]]

+ * [[nickname]]

+ * [[sobriquet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}