nunkyn.
/ˈnʌŋki/, U.S. /ˈnəŋki/ Chiefly British.
1. colloquial. Uncle. Cf. nuncle n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > uncle > [noun]
emeOE
unclec1300
nunclec1426
nunka1589
Unky?1790
nunky1796
nunk1822
oom1822
nunks1841
Unk1868
chacha1937
tito1969
1796 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1942) VII. 260 The Old Trick.—or—Nunkee Gaining the Honors.
1798 C. Smith Young Philosopher I. 101 I only repeat what I have heard, that old nunky looks upon you as still belonging to him.
1826 J. Kerr Rip Van Winkle ii. iv. 65 Bravo! Nunkey Knickerbrocker! You are no blind pilot.
1870 M. Bridgman Robert Lynne II. v. 102 I saw..how rich your dutiful old nunky had cut up.
1892 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 115/2 I was ‘Nunky’, though what connection that title had with my relationship as her godfather I never could discover.
1969 ‘A. Gilbert’ Missing from Home vi. 86 We don't even know she had an uncle... And if it was seven o'clock..she was running it pretty fine if she was going for a drive with Nunkie.
1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Nov. 1472/2 She was A. J. Balfour's favourite niece... ‘Nunky’ died in 1930.
2. slang. A pawnbroker. Cf. uncle n. 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > moneylending > [noun] > one who lends money > one with whom pawn deposited > pawnbroker
fulker1568
broker1583
uncle1606
pawnbroker1658
lumberer1802
dolly-man1851
pawn1851
nunky1875
Shylock1930
1875 Harper's Mag. Jan. 206/1 Nelly explained to Janet that ‘Nunky’, etc., was a dealer in second-hand watches and mosaics.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 5 Apr. 13/5 If you happen to want a ten-dollar bill and trot round the corner to ‘nunky’; why, that's really not quite done, my dear fellow.
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 574/1 Nunky,..a Jew more or less a money-lender.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1796