Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of soccer

soccer(n.)

1889, socca, later socker (1891), soccer (1895), originally university slang (with jocular formation -er (3)), from a shortened form of Assoc., abbreviation of association in Football Association (as distinguished from Rugby football). An unusual formation, but those who did it perhaps shied away from making a name out of the first three letters of Assoc. Compare rugger (under rugby) also 1890s English schoolboy slang leccer, from lecture (n.).

also from 1889

Entries linking to soccer

association(n.)

1530s, "action of coming together for a common purpose," from Medieval Latin associationem (nominative associatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of associare "join with," from assimilated form of ad "to" (see ad-) + sociare "unite with," from socius "companion, ally" (from PIE *sokw-yo-, suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) "to follow").

The meaning "an organized body of persons with a common purpose" is from 1650s. The sense of "mental connection" is from 1680s; that of "quality or thing called to mind by something else" is from 1810.

rugby(n.)

type of football, 1864, from Rugby, name of the public school where the game was played, which is named for its location in the city of Rugby in Warwickshire, central England. The place name is Rocheberie (1086), probably "fortified place of a man called *Hroca;" with second element from Old English burh (dative byrig), replaced by 13c. with Old Norse -by "village" due to the influence of Danish settlers. Otherwise it might be *Rockbury today. Or first element perhaps is Old English hroc "rook."

The Rugby Union was formed in 1871. Slang rugger for "rugby" is by 1893, with -er (1).

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trends of soccer

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

football

open-air game involving kicking a ball, c. 1400; in reference to the inflated ball used in the game, mid-14c. ("Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe," Octavian I manuscript, c. 1350), from foot (n.) + ball (n.1). Forbidden in a Scottish statute of 1424. One of Shake

pass

In football, hockey, soccer, etc., the meaning "to transfer the ball or puck to another player" is from c. 1865....

corner

In soccer, short for corner-kick, by 1882....

lord

mid-13c., laverd, loverd, from Old English hlaford "master of a household, ruler, feudal lord, superior; husband," also "God," translating Latin dominus, Greek kyrios in the New Testament, Hebrew yahweh in the Old (though Old English dryhten was more frequent). Old English hlafor

exacerbation

"act of exacerbating; state of being exacerbated; increase of violence or virulence, aggravation," c. 1400, exacerbacioun, from Late Latin exacerbationem (nominative exacerbatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin exacerbare "exasperate, irritate, provoke," from e

chagrin

1650s, "melancholy," from French chagrin "melancholy, anxiety, vexation" (14c.), from Old North French chagreiner or Angevin dialect chagraigner "sadden," which is of unknown origin, perhaps [Gamillscheg] from Old French graignier "grieve over, be angry," from graigne "sadness, r

tragedy

late 14c., "play or other serious literary work with an unhappy ending," from Old French tragedie (14c.), from Latin tragedia "a tragedy," from Greek tragodia "a dramatic poem or play in formal language and having an unhappy resolution," apparently literally "goat song," from tra

onomatopoeia

"formation of words or names by imitation of natural sounds; the naming of something by a reproduction of the sound made by it or a sound associated with it," 1570s, from Late Latin onomatopoeia, from Greek onomatopoiia "the making of a name or word" (in imitation of a sound asso

concept

"a general notion, the immediate object of a thought," 1550s, from Medieval Latin conceptum "draft, abstract," in classical Latin "(a thing) conceived," from concep-, past-participle stem of concipere "to take in and hold; become pregnant," from con-, here perhaps an intensive pr

zombie

also zombi, jumbie, 1788, possibly representing two separate words, one relating to the dead and the other to authority figures, but if so historically these were not kept distinct in English-speaking usage. The oldest attested sense in English is "'spirits of dead wicked men [..

Share soccer

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trending

Dictionary entries near soccer

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Feb	APR	May
	06
2024	2025	2026