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1930, from GermanNazi, a clipping of Nationalsozialist(“National Socialist”) (1924), earlier attestation (1903) as shortening of national-sozial), since in German the nati- in national/ˌnatsi̯oˈnaːl/ is approximately pronounced Nazi ; compare the parallel pejorative terms Sozi(“socialist, social democrat”), Kozi(“commie, commo, communist”).
A homonymic term Nazi was in use before the rise of the NSDAP in Bavaria as a pet name for Ignaz and (by extension from that) a derogatory word for a backwards peasant, which may have influenced the use of that abbreviation by the Nazis' opponents and its avoidance by the Nazis themselves.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈnɑːtsi/, /ˈnætsi/, /ˈnæzi/(the first pronunciation more closely matches the German pronunciation and is more common than the second; the third is historical)
(slang, usually derogatory, sometimes offensive, see usage notes below) One who imposes their views on others; one who is unfairly oppressive or needlessly strict. (also frequently uncapitalised: nazi)
(one who imposes their views on others): Humorous and informal, sometimes considered to be offensive or in poor taste, albeit not necessarily offensive in many circumstances.
1944, United States Office of War Information, Press Release Labor Press Service, page 1:
They have good reason to fear them too, for their machine gun strafing, their rockets, and their bombs knock out Nazi bridges, trucks, tanks, and kill them by the score.
1993, Jeffry Diefendorf, chapter 5, in In the Wake of War: The Reconstruction of German Cities after World War II, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 116:
The second development was the program for the redesign (Neugestaltung) of several German cities as representative Nazi cities.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
2008, Joseph P. Farrell, Nazi International, →ISBN:
All this requires some very careful unpacking, for obviously, Dr. Bosse is “speaking Nazi with the Bormann dialect.”
2014, Marius Turda, Aaron Gillette, Latin Eugenics in Comparative Perspective, →ISBN, page 123:
He must write and speak “Nazi”, which is essentially anti-scientific' (Schreiber 1935a: 79). Falk Ruttke's presentation was illustrative in this sense. Ruttke was a member of the Reich Committee for Public Health Policy, as well as a member of the Advisory Board for Population and Racial Policy at the Reich Interior Ministry. Ruttke told the participants that after Hitler's accession to power, the 'knowledge of genetic laws was invoked towards the creation of a healthy race,...'
2015, Tarik Cyril Amar, The Paradox of Ukrainian Lviv: A Borderland City, →ISBN:
What is pertinent is that it was possible to effectively speak Nazi to Nazis and then become an “innocent nationalist” during the Cold War. Kubiiovych's truth, if any, was that he mastered both. Pragmatism and brutality thus meshed seamlessly. For Kubiiovych, developing the Ukrainian cooperative system under Germans would not only strengthen the Ukrainian economy but also protect Ukrainian peasants from Jewish exploitation.
1941 October 19, FFF advertisement in The New York Times (as quoted in 2004, Martin J. Manning, Herbert Romerstein, Historical Dictionary of American Propaganda (→ISBN), page 104):
In Hitler's Own Words: Shut up, Yank — learn to speak NAZI!
2013, Jennifer Lane, On Best Behavior:
He pushed aside his ponytailed minion and stepped right up to Tank, who gave him a perplexed look as he barked a few words in guttural German. “I don't speak Nazi,” Tank said.
2016, Jessica Holbrook, The Perfect Descent, page 158:
“This is all sounding very pretty, Shaw,” Spencer checks his watch. “But how about you share what's being said for the rest of us who don't speak Nazi.”
↑ 1.01.1Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “Nazi”, in Online Etymology Dictionary., citing Friedrich Kluge, Elmar Seebold, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 24. Auflage (Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2002, →ISBN)
^ Henrik Gottlieb, Jens Erik Morgensen, editors (2007), Dictionary Visions, Research and Practice: Selected Papers from the 12th International Symposium on Lexicography, Copenhagen 2004, illustrated edition, Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co., →ISBN, retrieved 22 October 2014, pages 247-249
^ Anson Rabinbach, Sander Gilman, editors (2013), The Third Reich Sourcebook, Berkeley, California: California University Press, →ISBN, page 4
1924, representing the pronunciation of Nati- in Nationalsozialist(“National Socialist”), influenced by Sozi(“socialist”), as pejorative possibly also influenced by Nazi, a Bavarian hypocorism of Ignatius.
a general, extremely strong insult, chiefly of someone right-wing, authoritarian or xenophobic
(used in compounds)an expression of strong contempt for someone or something right-wing, authoritarian or xenophobic, as in Nazischwein, Nazipropaganda, etc.