English word origin

Etymology of nancy

From Nancy, pet form of the female given names Agnes and Anne, under influence from earlier nan (“serving girl, maid; male homosexual”), itself from Nan, another pet form of the same names. Compare Mary.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

An effeminate man, especially a homosexual.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "Nancy",
      "Nancy#English"
    ],
    [
      "Agnes",
      "Agnes#English"
    ],
    [
      "Anne",
      "Anne#English"
    ],
    [
      "nan",
      "nan#English"
    ],
    [
      "serving",
      "serving"
    ],
    [
      "girl",
      "girl"
    ],
    [
      "maid",
      "maid"
    ],
    [
      "male",
      "male"
    ],
    [
      "homosexual",
      "homosexual"
    ],
    [
      "Nan",
      "Nan#English"
    ],
    [
      "Mary",
      "Mary#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An effeminate man, especially a homosexual."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "US",
        "derogatory",
        "offensive",
        "slang"
      ],
      "recordId": "d4721ea5039bd1142b155e0d13b5b5e1134caf4d1c382826a72f49a0d4ed1f1b",
      "rawRecordSha256": "b29aad7b5b37cda1a7a6202f7d58ef89b7943f0607bcd243b13d2ec0dd8435dd",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 208033
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for nancy →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bmFuY3k