nerd
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English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unknown. Attested since 1951 as US student slang.
- Perhaps an alteration of nerts (“nuts", "crazy”); see references below.
- The word, capitalized, appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo as the name of an imaginary animal:
- And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Katroo / And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker too!
- Possibly a rebracketing of inert as a nert, as in he's inert = he's a nerd, in reference to one's lack of competence or athletic ability.
- Various unlikely folk etymologies and less likely backronymic speculations also exist.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: nûd, IPA(key): /nɜːd/
- (US) enPR: nûrd, IPA(key): /nɝːd/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d
Noun
[edit]nerd (plural nerds)
- (slang, sometimes derogatory) A person who is intellectual but generally introverted.
- 1953 Advertisement for "Businessman's Lunch", a play by Micheal Quinn, in Patricia Brown, Gloria Mundi
- They particularly enjoy making fun of one of their fellows who is not present, whom they consider a hopeless nerd – until, that is, they learn he is engaged to marry the boss's daughter.
- 2002, Sam Williams, Free as in Freedom:
- "We were all geeks and nerds, but he was unusually poorly adjusted," recalls Chess, now a mathematics professor at Hunter College.
- 2009 February 28, “Orszag to present budget blueprint”, in WBBH:
- "Yes, I am super nerd, and the whole room cracked up," Said Orszag.
- 1953 Advertisement for "Businessman's Lunch", a play by Micheal Quinn, in Patricia Brown, Gloria Mundi
- (informal, sometimes derogatory) One who has an intense, obsessive interest in something.
- Synonym: geek
- Hyponym: otaku
- a computer nerd
- a comic-book nerd
- Synonyms: dag (Australian), geek, propeller head
- (informal, sometimes derogatory) A member of a subculture revolving around intellectualism, technology, video games, fantasy and science fiction, comic books and assorted media. [from 1980s]
- (informal, sometimes derogatory, dated) One who is socially inept or unattractive, but often brainy; a social outcast.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:dork
Derived terms
[edit]- arachnerd
- cybernerd
- entreprenerd
- millionerd
- nerdboy
- nerdbrain
- nerdcore
- nerdette
- nerdfest
- nerdgasm
- nerd glasses
- Nerdic
- nerdification
- nerdify
- nerdiness
- nerdish
- nerdism
- nerdistan
- nerdlet
- nerdlike
- nerdling
- nerdlinger
- nerdo
- nerdom, nerddom
- nerd out
- nerd pole
- nerd revolution
- nerd-snipe
- nerd snipe
- nerdsome
- nerdspeak
- nerdtastic
- nerdvana
- nerdy
- technonerd
- word nerd
Descendants
[edit]- → Dutch: nerd
- → Faroese: nørdur
- → Finnish: nörtti
- → Icelandic: nörd
- → Norwegian Bokmål: nerd
- → Norwegian Nynorsk: nerd
- → Polish: nerd
- → Portuguese: nerd
- → Spanish: nerd
- → Swedish: nörd
- → Turkish: nörd
Translations
[edit]intellectual, skillful person, generally introverted
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References
[edit]- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “nerd”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Further reading
[edit]nerd on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Category:Nerds on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Anagrams
[edit]Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]nerd m (plural nerds, diminutive nerdje n)
Derived terms
[edit]Norwegian Bokmål
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]nerd m (definite singular nerden, indefinite plural nerder, definite plural nerdene)
- a nerd
References
[edit]- “nerd” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]nerd m (definite singular nerden, indefinite plural nerdar, definite plural nerdane)
- a nerd
References
[edit]- “nerd” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Polish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]nerd m pers
- (derogatory) nerd (intellectual, skillful person, generally introverted)
Declension
[edit]Declension of nerd
Further reading
[edit]- nerd in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English nerd.
Pronunciation
[edit]
Noun
[edit]nerd m or f by sense (plural nerds)
Adjective
[edit]nerd (invariable)
- nerdy (who is a nerd)
Usage notes
[edit]Until recently, this word was somewhat pejorative. Nowadays it is used both negatively and positively.
Spanish
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English nerd.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]nerd m or f by sense (plural nerds)
Categories:
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- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)d
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- Rhymes:Spanish/eɾd
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- Spanish lemmas
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- es:People