Tennies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Casual rubber-soled canvas shoes worn for sport or everyday use, often called sneakers
2. A informal term for lightweight athletic footwear with a flat rubber sole and cloth upper
3. Slang for sneakers, the soft-soled athletic shoes people wear for exercise or relaxed wear

Etymology: "Tennies" is a clipping of "tennis shoe," with the diminutive ending "-ie" tacked on the end. The clipping drops the second word and keeps just the first syllables, and the "-ie" ending adds the affectionate, slightly casual tone that many such words carry in English, as in "hankie" or "movie." The result is a word for the rubber-soled canvas shoes that were originally worn for playing tennis and later for everyday comfort. Its meaning has stayed close to its origin: it still refers to casual, flat-soled sports shoes, and it is most often used in the plural, as the form "tennies" usually suggests.