Soccer
/ˈsɒk.ər/noun
A form of football played by two teams of eleven players with a round ball.
Did you know?The word was coined in late 19th-century British school slang from an abbreviation of "association football," showing that even modern sports terms can be born from playful word-shaping rather than ancient roots.
Etymological Timeline
Late 19th Century
English
soccer
“A slang shortening of association football, formed by adding the Oxford-style suffix -er to soc from association”
1860s-1870s
English
assoc.
“An abbreviation of association in the phrase association football”
1863
English
association football
“The codified game distinguished from rugby football”
1870s
English
socca
“A school slang clipped form used in British public schools”
Old French
OF
association
“A joining or union”