one who is or has to do with (the thing specified): beatnik, refusenik
Origin of -nik
from Yiddish or Russ: equivalent to -er-nik
-nikWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"-nik." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/nik>.
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-nik. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/nik
-nik
suffix
One associated with or characterized by: beatnik; peacenik.
Origin of -nik
YiddishRussian (Yiddish) ( from Russian) of Slavic originTHE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"-nik." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/nik>.
APA Style
-nik. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/nik
Suffix
- Appended to words to create a nickname for a person who exemplifies, endorses, or is associated with the thing or quality specified (by the base form), often a particular ideology or preference.
Origin
From the Slavic suffix (Russian: -ник (-nik)). This suffix experienced a surge in English coinages for nicknames and diminutives after the 1957 Soviet launch of the first Sputnik satellite. English usage is heavily influenced by Yiddish usage of -nik and similar borrowed words (nogoodnik, nudnik, kibbutznik).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"-nik." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/nik>.
APA Style
-nik. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/nik
