nerd

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See also: Nerd and NERD

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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nerd (plural nerds)

  1. (slang, sometimes derogatory) A person who is intellectual but generally introverted.
    • 1953 Advertisement for "Businessman's Lunch", a play by Michael 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.
    • 1984 December 29, Duncan Mitchel, “The Cult of Gay Machismo”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 9:
      I once found myself listening to a gay man who was saying wistfully, "I wish there was someplace you could go, maybe a club, where only masculine men would be allowed in." […] Ever tactful, I did not point out to him that if such a place existed, he probably would not be allowed into it, for while he wasn't a campy sort he was too much of a nerd to meet his own specification.
    • 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.
  2. (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
  3. (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]
  4. (informal, sometimes derogatory, dated) One who is socially inept or unattractive, but often brainy; a social outcast.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → 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

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References

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English nerd.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /nøːrt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: nerd

Noun

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nerd m (plural nerds, diminutive nerdje n)

  1. nerd

Derived terms

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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Borrowed from English nerd.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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nerd m (definite singular nerden, indefinite plural nerder, definite plural nerdene)

  1. a nerd

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

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Borrowed from English nerd.

Noun

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nerd m (definite singular nerden, indefinite plural nerdar, definite plural nerdane)

  1. a nerd

References

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from English nerd.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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nerd m pers

  1. (derogatory) nerd (intellectual, skillful person, generally introverted)

Declension

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Declension of nerd
singular plural
nominative nerd nerdzi/nerdy
genitive nerda nerdów
dative nerdowi nerdom
accusative nerda nerdów
instrumental nerdem nerdami
locative nerdzie nerdach
vocative nerdzie nerdzi/nerdy

Further reading

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  • nerd in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English nerd.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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nerd m or f by sense (plural nerds)

  1. nerd (intellectual, introverted and quirky person)
    Synonyms: totó, (Brazil) CDF

Adjective

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nerd (invariable)

  1. nerdy (who is a nerd)

Usage notes

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Until recently, this word was somewhat pejorative. Nowadays it is used both negatively and positively.

Spanish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English nerd.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈneɾd/ [ˈneɾð̞]
  • Rhymes: -eɾd
  • Syllabification: nerd

Noun

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nerd m or f by sense (plural nerds)

  1. nerd
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