Nickers
/ˈnɪk.ərz/noun
A plural noun for women’s underwear; in some contexts, a horse’s high-pitched whinny or a sniggering laugh.
Did you know?The underwear sense is a shortened form of the Dutch surname Knickerbocker, popularized in America, while the laughing sense is tied to older English words for snickering or whinnying—two totally separate histories.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
hnīcan / snīcan
“to laugh softly, snigger (a related Germanic expressive family)”
Middle English
ME
snikken / snickeren
“to snigger, laugh under the breath”
17th Century
Dutch
Knickerbocker
“a surname, later associated with Dutch-descended New Yorkers”
19th Century
English
nickers
“women’s drawers or undergarments, originally shortened from knickers”
Modern English
English
nickers
“women’s underwear; also a sniggering laugh or a horse’s whinny”
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