# nerd
## English
### Alternative forms

* knurd (folk etymology, very rare)
* nurd (very rare)

### Etymology

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

* (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA: /nɜːd/
** Audio (General Australian):(file)
* (US) enPR: nûrd, IPA: /nɝːd/
* (Scotland) IPA: /neɹd/
* (New Zealand) IPA: /nøːd/
* (Liverpool, fair–fur merger) IPA: /neːd/
* (Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger) IPA: /nɛːd/
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d

### Noun

nerd (plural nerds)
* (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.
* (informal, sometimes derogatory) One who has an intense, obsessive interest in something.
    Synonyms: geek, (Australia) dag, propeller head
    Hyponym: otaku
    a computer nerd
    a comic-book nerd
* (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]
* (informal, sometimes derogatory, dated) One who is socially inept or unattractive, regardless of their intelligence; a social outcast.
** 1990 April 23, Gary Larson, “[a cartoon depicting a cowboy leaving an outhouse with toilet paper attached to his spur]”, in The Far Side:Nerds of the Old West

#### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:dork

#### Derived terms

* arachnerd
* cybernerd
* entreprenerd
* millionerd
* nerdboy
* nerdbrain
* nerdcore
* nerdette
* nerdfest
* nerdgasm
* nerd glasses
* Nerdic
* nerdification
* nerdify
* nerdiness
* nerdish
* nerdism
* nerdistan
* nerdlet
* nerdlike
* nerdling
* nerdlinger
* nerdo
* nerdom, nerddom
* nerd out
* nerd pole
* nerd revolution
* nerd-snipe
* nerd snipe
* nerdsome
* nerdspeak
* nerdtastic
* nerdvana
* nerdy
* technonerd
* word nerd

#### Descendants

* → Danish: nørd
* → 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
### References

* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “nerd”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Further reading

* nerd on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Category:Nerds on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

### Anagrams

* dern, rend

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nøːrt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: nerd

### Noun

nerd m (plural nerds, diminutive nerdje n)
* nerd

#### Derived terms

* computernerd
* gamenerd
* internetnerd
* nerden
* nerderig
* nerdo

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nærd/, /nøːɖ/
* Rhymes: -ærd, -øːɖ

### Noun

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

### References

* “nerd” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

### Noun

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

### References

* “nerd” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈnɛrt/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛrt
* Syllabification: nerd

### Noun

nerd m pers
* (derogatory) nerd (intellectual, skillful person, generally introverted)

#### Declension
### Further reading

* nerd in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English nerd.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈnɛʁ.d͡ʒi/ [ˈnɛɦ.d͡ʒi], /ˈnɛʁd͡ʒ/ [ˈnɛɦd͡ʒ]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈnɛʁ.d͡ʒi/ [ˈnɛɦ.d͡ʒi], /ˈnɛʁd͡ʒ/ [ˈnɛɦd͡ʒ]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /ˈnɛɾ.d͡ʒi/, /ˈnɛɾd͡ʒ/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /ˈnɛʁ.d͡ʒi/, /ˈnɛʁd͡ʒ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈnɛɻd͡ʒ/, /ˈnɛɻ.d͡ʒi/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈnɐɾ.dɨ/ [ˈnɐɾ.ðɨ]

### Noun

nerd m or f by sense (plural nerds)
* nerd (intellectual, introverted and quirky person)
    Synonyms: totó, (Brazil) CDF

### Adjective

nerd (invariable)
* nerdy (who is a nerd)

#### Usage notes

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

## Spanish
### Alternative forms

* nerdo

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English nerd.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈneɾd/ [ˈneɾð̞]
* Rhymes: -eɾd
* Syllabification: nerd

### Noun

nerd m or f by sense (plural nerds)
* nerd