Nickumpoop

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An old-fashioned term for a silly, foolish or simple-minded person who is easily taken in
2. A dated insult describing someone who is dim-witted, gullible or lacking common sense
3. Used in older English to mock a person regarded as a fool or a dull-witted simpleton

Etymology: The word "nickumpoop" is an obsolete spelling of "nincompoop," and its origins remain uncertain. The first element may come from the name Nicholas or from Nicodemus, the Pharisee in the Gospel of John who asks Jesus seemingly naive questions. French has a close parallel in "nicodème," meaning a foolish or gullible person, which points to the Biblical figure as a source of ridicule. Alternatively, the first part may simply derive from "ninny," a word for a silly person. The second element, "-poop," is more clearly traceable. It comes from an obsolete English verb "poop," meaning to cheat, deceive, or fool. So the whole word may have originally described someone easily taken in or made a dupe of. The English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, writing in the 1700s, proposed that the first part came from the Latin phrase "non compos" ("not of sound mind"). The Oxford English Dictionary rejects this, because early 16th-century forms such as "nickumpoop" and "nicompoop" do not match the Latin.