Definitions for nicknameˈnɪkˌneɪm

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

nick•nameˈnɪkˌneɪm(n.; v.)-named, -nam•ing.

(n.)a name substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity.
a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for
Margaret.
(v.t.)to call by a nickname.
Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.

Origin of nickname:

1400–50; late ME nekename, for ekename (the phrase an ekename being taken as a nekename). See eke2, name

nick′nam`er(n.)

Princeton's WordNet

nickname, moniker, cognomen, sobriquet, soubriquet, byname(noun)
a familiar name for a person (often a shortened version of a person's given name)
"Joe's mother would not use his nickname and always called him Joseph"; "Henry's nickname was Slim"
nickname(verb)
a descriptive name for a place or thing
"the nickname for the U.S. Constitution is `Old Ironsides'"
dub, nickname(verb)
give a nickname to

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

nickname(noun)ˈnɪkˌneɪm
a name given to sb by their friends that is not their usual name
Her nickname at home was "Bear."

Wiktionary

nickname(Noun)
A familiar, invented given name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing.
nickname(Noun)
A kind of byname that describes a person by a characteristic of that person.
nickname(Verb)
To give a nickname to (a person or thing).

Origin: nekename, alteration (due to an incorrect division of the words an ekename as a nekename) of previous ekename, from eke + name. compare aukanafn.

Webster Dictionary

Nickname(noun)
a name given in contempt, derision, or sportive familiarity; a familiar or an opprobrious appellation
Nickname(verb)
to give a nickname to; to call by a nickname

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

nickname
A combination of two separate unclassified words that is assigned an unclassified meaning and is employed only for unclassified administrative, morale, or public information purposes.