different between nanny vs nancy
nanny
English
Etymology
(1795) It has often been assumed that the English term was originally a widespread child's word for "female adult other than mother" (compare Greek ????? (nánna, “aunt”), nanna). See also Welsh nain (“grandmother”).
On the other hand, according to recent research of the Dutch historical linguists Hans Beelen en Nicoline van der Sijs (published in Onze Taal, September 2018), on which see also etymologiebank.nl, in Dutch), the term nanny (and the British colloquial nan for "grandmother") may actually be eponymous, viz. being originally an affective form (i.e. a hypocoristic) of the popular female name Anne. The Dutch statesman and scientist Constantijn Huygens Jr. made the following observation during one of his many sojourns in England (noted in his Journaal, dated 13 December 1692): "Yesterday I received 10lb of chocolate again, from niece Becker, and she had Nanny, her maid, bringing me the money that she had owed me" (Gisteren kreegh 10 ? choccolate wederom van nicht Becker, en had Nanny, haer meidt, geweest om mij 't geldt, dat van haer hebben most, te brengen). Beelen and van der Sijs therefore assumed that "since many female domestic servants were named "Nan" or "Nanny", the name became a sobriquet for the profession of "maid, childminder" in the 18th century". ("Omdat veel vrouwelijke huisbedienden in het Engels de voornaam Nan of Nanny hadden, verschoof de betekenis in de achttiende eeuw naar die van een beroepsaanduiding: ‘meid, kindermeisje’")
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?næni/
- Rhymes: -æni
Noun
nanny (plural nannies)
- A child's nurse.
- (colloquial) A grandmother.
- (US, colloquial) A godmother.
- A female goat.
- 1983, Douglas H. Chadwick, A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed, Bison Books (2002), ?ISBN, page 159:
- Breeding is a consuming goal, and the ascendance of the sex drive is nearly as apparent in the behavior of a mountain goat billy. So given over is he to following and defending a succession of nannies as he searches for one in heat (estrus), he loses interest in food altogether; […]
- 2005, Richard Cannings, The Rockies: A Natural History, Greystone Books (2005), ?ISBN, page 103:
- Nannies and billies look very similar, both having dangerously sharp, curved black horns.
- 2013, Janet Hurst, The Whole Goat Handbook: Recipes, Cheese, Soap, Crafts & More, Voyageur Press (2013), ?ISBN, page 28:
- A farmer friend keeps a video camera in the barn so she can turn on her goat cam and observe her animals at any time of the day or night. A baby monitor picks up the sounds of a nanny when she goes into labor—if the nanny is one who changes the usual pitch of her voice or nervously bleats during kidding.
- 1983, Douglas H. Chadwick, A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed, Bison Books (2002), ?ISBN, page 159:
Synonyms
- (female goat): nanny goat
- (child's nurse): housemother
Derived terms
- nanny state
- manny (male nanny)
- nannify
Related terms
- nanna
- nannification
Translations
Verb
nanny (third-person singular simple present nannies, present participle nannying, simple past and past participle nannied)
- (intransitive, transitive) To serve as a nanny.
- (transitive, derogatory) To treat like a nanny's charges; to coddle. [From the mid-20th c.]
Jamaican Creole
Noun
nanny (plural: nanny dem, quantified: nanny)
- Alternative spelling of Nanny.
nanny From the web:
- what nanny means
- what nanny do
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nancy
English
Etymology
From Nancy, pet form of the female given names Agnes and Anne, under influence from earlier nan (“serving girl, maid; male homosexual”), itself from Nan, another pet form of the same names. Compare Mary.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?nænsi/
- Rhymes: -ænsi
- Hyphenation: nan?cy
Noun
nancy (plural nancies)
- (Britain, US, derogatory, slang, offensive) An effeminate man, especially a homosexual.
Synonyms
- (an effeminate man): mama's boy, pansy, sissy; see also Thesaurus:effeminate man
- (a homosexual): friend of Dorothy, omi-palone; see also Thesaurus:male homosexual
Derived terms
- nancy up
- nancyboy, nance
Translations
Anagrams
- Canny, canny
nancy From the web:
- what nancy drew character are you
- what nancy means
- what nancy secret in eastenders
- what nancy hiding in eastenders
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