The English suffix -nik is of Slavic origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun (that is, it describes a person related to the thing, state, habit, or action described by the word to which the suffix is attached). In the cases where a native English language coinage may occur, the "-nik"-word often bears an ironic connotation, as in the case of the terms coined for the failed rocket launch of the U.S. satellite rival to Sputnik, such as kaputnik, dudnik and flopnik among others.

History

The suffix existed in English for a long time. An example is raskolnik, recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary as known since 1723. There have been two main waves of the introduction of this suffix into English language. The first was driven by Yinglish words contributed by Yiddish speakers from Eastern Europe. The second surge was observed after the launch of the first Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. In his book The American Language, first published in 1919, H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) credited the mania for adding "-nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns to Al Capp's American comic strip Li'l Abner (1934–1977) rather than to the influence of "Sputnik", first recorded in 1957, or "beatnik", first recorded in 1958.

Vocabulary

Mainstream

Words of significant context or usage:

Casual

Casual neologisms:

Jewish adaptation

Words originally used by Jews of Europe, America, and Israel, often referring to concepts related to their experiences or things happening in Israel or among the Jewish people:

Slavic languages

Native or constructed Slavic words originating in Slavic-speaking environments: • Čelnik • Chetnik • Druzhinnik • Gopnik • Kolkhoznik • Kukuruznik • Narodnik • Namestnik • Oprichnik • Patatnik • Peredvizhnik • Poglavnik • Polkovnik • Raskolnik • Sotnik • Sovkhoznik • Subbotnik • Syrnik • Udarnik • Varenik • Vatnik • Voskresnik • Zapadnik • Zolotnik There are quite a few proper nouns (surnames and place names) with this suffix.