Question: What is the derivation of "nick-name"? III. i. 144.
...have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God
has given you one face, and you make yourselves
another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and
nick-name God's creatures, and make your wantonness
your ignorance.
Answer: The derivation perhaps is from an eke-name, an agnomen,
the "n" having possibly slipped from the article, and become
joined to the eke-name, as similarly an adder was originally
a nadder, an apron was a naperon.
Mertins, Emma. Shakespeare Examinations. Ed. William Taylor Thom, M. A. Boston: Ginn and Co., 1888. Shakespeare Online. 10 Aug. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/examq/eleven.html >.
