Nicholas
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈnɪk.ə.ləs/, /ˈnɪk.ləs/
Proper noun
  1. A male given name. Best known for St. Nicholas of Myre, on whom Father Christmas is based.
    • 1591, William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene i]:
      Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas’ clerks, I'll give thee this neck.
    • 1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter LIII, in Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life, volume III, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, OCLC 948783829 ↗, book V (The Dead Hand), page 182 ↗:
      I must call you Nick—we always did call you young Nick when we knew you meant to marry the old widow. Some said you had a handsome family likeness to old Nick, but that was your mother's fault, calling you Nicholas. Aren't you glad to see me again?
  2. Surname
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