different between nonny vs nanny

English

Etymology 1

Noun

nonny (plural nonnies)

1. (obsolete) A fool.

Interjection

nonny

1. A meaningless word used in refrains, especially in old English ballads and glees.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3

     Then sigh not so,

     But let them go,

     And be you blithe and bonny,

     Converting all your sounds of woe

     Into Hey nonny, nonny.

Etymology 2

Diminutive of anonymous with -y.

Noun

nonny (plural nonnies)

1. (fandom slang) A user who posts anonymously on the Internet.

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 18^th 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)

1. A child's nurse.
2. (colloquial) A grandmother.
3. (US, colloquial) A godmother.
4. 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.

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)

1. (intransitive, transitive) To serve as a nanny.
2. (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)

1. Alternative spelling of Nanny.