Nincompoop origin

From Nincompoop origin, the free dictionary. WOTD — 30 April Declaring their several Natures, nincompoop origin, Manners, and Constitutions; the occasion why this Ship was built, with the places of their intended Voyage, and a lift of the Officers that bear Command therein [book title]. O you huffing Son of a Whore.

British English is full of fun and fanciful terms. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos. However, there are a number of etymologists who decidedly disagree with this explanation. Nicodemus , a derivation of Nicholas, has been cited as a possible example, as it was used in the French language to denote a fool. The Oxford English Dictionary also believes that the origins of the word can be dated back to the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and that there were a variety of versions of the word in use, including nicompoop and nickumpoop. There have been recordings of nickumpoop , nincumpoop , nink-a-poop , ninkompoop , ninkumpupe , ninny-cum-poop. Despite the uncertainty about the origins of the term, its use has always been pretty clear.

Nincompoop origin

Nicodemus secretly visited Jesus one night to hear about his teachings. The Access to the complete content on Oxford Reference requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription. Please subscribe or login to access full text content. If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code. For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs , and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice. Personal Profile. Oxford Reference. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Recently viewed 0 Save Search. The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins 2 ed.

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Another frequent spelling through 18c. Despite the similarity [noted by Johnson] to the Latin legal phrase non compos mentis "insane, mentally incompetent" c. Weekley thinks first element may be a proper name, and cites Nicodemus , which he says was used in French for "a fool," or Nicholas. Klein says it is probably an invented word. Century Dictionary has no objection to the non compos mentis theory.

Muttonhead is not quite so old as many of the words in this list, in use only since the early 19th century. It makes up for this lack of lineage with a degree of oddity that sets it apart from the older words. It also is the word from which we get mutt , a word which has been applied, since the end of the 19th century, to horses of the run-down variety , people of insignificance , and dogs of indeterminate or mixed breed. To recap: a word for people, which was based on sheep, shortened and became a term for horses or people , and now is most commonly applied to dogs. Mankind are bored enough with scholastic mutton heads on commencement day; but to have the wretches continually grinding on their patience from the columns of a newspaper is past endurance. The English language is particularly rich in words which are capable of describing a person who makes questionable choices, and a large number of these words appear to end with - head. A very partial list includes bonehead , bufflehead , chowderhead , chucklehead , citternhead , dolthead , doughhead , dullhead , dumbhead , dunderhead , hammerhead , hardhead , jolter-head , leatherhead , loggerhead , muddlehead , noodlehead , pumpkin head , ramhead , squarehead , thickhead , and woodenhead. Of these perhaps none has such trenchant weight as the humble asshead. Scogin said to his scholler, thou foole and asse-head, doest thou not know Tom Miller of Osney? As noted above, many terms of abuse in English are formed by adding - head to an existing word.

Nincompoop origin

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary. WOTD — 30 April Declaring their several Natures, Manners, and Constitutions; the occasion why this Ship was built, with the places of their intended Voyage, and a lift of the Officers that bear Command therein [book title]. O you huffing Son of a Whore. You rotten Jack in a box. You foul mouth'd Nickumpoop. Chiswell, S. Sprint, R. Battersby, S.

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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nincompoop. Chiswell, S. Ten questions you should ask a translation provider before hiring them. British English is full of fun and fanciful terms. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription. Oxford Reference. Dictionary Historical Thesaurus. Entries linking to nincompoop nick n. There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun nincompoop. Old English— nine-ball, n.

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun nincompoop. To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

The Words of the Week - Mar. If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code. The people running that company are a bunch of nincompoops! Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms. Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription View our subscription options. Pick the best ones! Entries linking to nincompoop nick n. Declaring their several Natures, Manners, and Constitutions; the occasion why this Ship was built, with the places of their intended Voyage, and a lift of the Officers that bear Command therein [book title]. Don't have an account? The good Dr Johnson, in his famous Dictionary of , said it was from Latin non compos , as in the medical and legal phrase non compos mentis , not mentally competent. Feedback required. However, there are a number of etymologists who decidedly disagree with this explanation. Word of the Day.