St. Nick
3
3.6
- proper noun
- /seɪnt nɪk/
- Informal
:
San Nicolás
- He's jolly old St. Nick now.
- jolly St. Nick
- Old St. Nick
Examples
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Most of us would rather savor these perfect fall days and wait a bit before thinking of good old St. Nick.
Blog text (25) -
Jolly Ol' St. Nick and Mrs. Claus will be on hand for photos and to hear Christmas wishes from children.
Blog text (30) -
Ho ho ho, he laughs, oblivious to the similarity between himself and that old charmer St. Nick.
Fiction book (1999) -
Then, of course, Jolly Ol' St. Nick will be there, too, to chat with the children, and he will be checking his list for who's been naughty or nice.
Blog text (18) -
You'll recall that in the poem, St. Nick is not without his vices: "The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath."
Blog text (20) -
Children eagerly waited to tell their wishes to St. Nick at the holiday event.
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In the story, St. Nick travels around the world delivering gifts on Christmas Eve.
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Every year, families celebrate Christmas by decorating their homes in honor of St. Nick.
Synonyms
742
1.0
A jolly old man who brings presents to children on Christmas Eve
11
1.0
A friendly old man in red who brings gifts to children at Christmas
8
2.0
An imaginary man who brings presents to children at Christmas
4
3.4
A kind man in stories who brings presents to children at Christmas
1
5.0
A man in stories who brings presents to children at Christmas
Surface Forms
Morphology
St. + Nick
The form 'St. Nick' is a contracted form of 'Saint Nick(olas)' and thus is compositionally built from 'Saint' + a personal name; learners who know those constituents could infer it refers to a saintly figure. However, identifying this specific saint as the folkloric gift‑giver (Santa Claus) depends on cultural/historical knowledge (Saint Nicholas → Santa), so the link is not fully predictable from the words alone.
Etymology
St. Nick comes from the real man Saint Nicholas, a kind church leader who used to leave coins and small gifts in people's shoes. One popular story says this gave rise to the jolly figure called 'Santa Claus', so St. Nick now means the man who 'brings presents' at Christmas.