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knickerbocker

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knickerbocker¹

Where it comes from

See knickerbockers.

noun

  1. archaic, attributive, uncountable, as a modifier Of or relating to knickerbockers. ...with a rudimentary beard to set it off, a dirty shirt, a rifle, a coat over my arm, and half a grouse in my knickerbocker pocket.
  2. uncountable A linsey-woolsey fabric with a rough knotted surface on the right side, formerly used for women's dresses.

Knickerbocker²

  • /ˈnɪkɚbɑkɚ/ US

Where it comes from

From Diedrich Knickerbocker, the pseudonym adopted by Washington Irving for his 1809 A History of New York, probably for the Knickerbackers of Schaghticoke, New York, descended from the Dutch immigrant Harmen Jansen van Bommel(l), who went variously by the names van Wy(y)e, van Wyekycback(e), Kinnekerbacker, Knickelbacker, Knickerbacker, Kinckerbacker, Nyckbacker, and Kynckbacker. The surname is of uncertain etymology, being variously explained as a corruption of Wyekycback, Dutch knacker (“cracker”) + German Bäcker, Dutch bakker (“baker”), or Dutch knicker (“marble (toy)”) + German Bäcker, Dutch bakker.

noun Knickerbockers

  1. A surname from Dutch.
  2. archaic, historical A New Yorker, particularly a scion of its old Dutch families
  3. uncommon A player for the New York Knicks
  4. historical A player for the New York Knickerbockers

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MLA

"knickerbocker." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/knickerbocker. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

knickerbocker. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/knickerbocker

Chicago

"knickerbocker." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/knickerbocker.

BibTeX
@misc{knickerbocker_2026,
  title = {knickerbocker},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/knickerbocker},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}