nanny
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: business
mining
Etymology: From nan (“grandmother; nursemaid”) + -y. The root is from nana (“grandma; nanny”), which is from nanna (“grandmother”), which is possibly derived from Proto-Celtic *nana (“grandmother”). See also Proto-Brythonic *nanī, Welsh nain (“grandmother”), Galician nana (“mama”), Spanish nana (“granny; nanny; mommy; housekeeper”), Sicilian nanna (“grandma”), Italian nonna (“granny”), Late Latin nonna (“nun; tutoress; old woman”), Norman nonne (“nun”), Old French nonain (“nun”). All probably ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root imitative of a child babbling, similar to Ancient Greek νάννα (nánna).
(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 νάννα (nánna, “aunt”), nanna).
On the other hand, according to recent research of the Dutch historical linguists Hans Beelen and 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’")
Base: nan
Affixes: -y
Inflected forms:
form: nannies
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: nannie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: nannies
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: nannying
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: nannied
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: nannied
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A child's nurse.
pos: noun
examples: Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.
gloss: A grandmother.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
gloss: A godmother.
pos: noun
tags: US
colloquial
gloss: A female goat.
pos: noun
examples: 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; […]
Nannies and billies look very similar, both having dangerously sharp, curved black horns.
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.
gloss: Synonym of sylvester (“device for pulling out pit props”).
pos: noun
gloss: To serve as a nanny.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
transitive
gloss: To treat like a nanny's charges; to coddle.
pos: verb
tags: derogatory
transitive
examples: In real life, says a Democratic campaign aide, members of Congress are too nannied by staff to stride about hatching plots, one-on-one.
All politicians seem worried. After 40-plus years of being nannied by the EU they are now faced with having to stand on their own two feet.
Related words: crook and nanny
nanna
nannification
nanny nanny boo boo
Derived words: get someone's nanny
manny
nannify
nannyberry
nannybush
nanny cam
nanny dog
nannydom
Nannygate
nanny goat
nannyish
nannyism
nannyless
nannylike
nanny shop
nanny state
stinking nanny
supernanny
Translations: