old nick
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.56 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "He sat down in the middle of the floor, took his chalk out and marked a large ring around him, and round about this he wrote the Lord's Prayer, and then he did not feel afraid even if Old Nick himself should come."
Etymology
Originally 17th century. Apparently a special use of the forename Nick, perhaps in jocular or contrastive reference to Saint Nicholas. Alternatively, it may be derived from nicker, or some other derivative of Old English nicor (“water demon”).
Origin
- Source language: Old English