Nike

See also: Niké

English

A Nike shoe

The goddess Nike

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪki(ː)/
• Rhymes: -aɪki

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proper noun

Nike

1. (Greek mythology) The goddess of victory and triumph; Athena's companion.
2. (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) An American brand of sports shoes, equipment and clothing.
3. (astronomy) 307 Nike, a main belt asteroid.

Translations

Greek goddess of victory

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 尼刻 (Níkè)

• Danish: Nike f
• Dutch: Nikè f
• Finnish: Nike f
• French: Niké f
• German: Nike (de) f
• Greek: Νίκη (el) f (Níki)

  Ancient: Νίκη f (Níkē)

• Hebrew: ניקה (he) f
• Hungarian: Niké (hu)
• Italian: Nike
• Latin: Nice f
• Lithuanian: Nikė f
• Polish: Nike (pl) f
• Portuguese: Nice (pt) f
• Russian: Ни́ка (ru) f (Níka), Нике f (Nike)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Ника f

  Roman: Nika (sh) f

• Slovene: Nike f
• Spanish: Niké, Nice
• Swedish: Nike f
• Turkish: Nike f
• Ukrainian: Ніка f (Nika)

See also

• Nikes
• Victoria

Noun

Nike

1. (usually in the plural) An athletic shoe or other piece of athletic gear produced or licensed by athletic brand Nike.
   • 1986, Ron Luciano, David Fisher, The Fall of the Roman Umpire, Bantam Books, published 1987, →ISBN, page 211:

     One day Billy Madlock wore two different spikes, a Nike on his left foot for something like fifteen thousand dollars and an Adidas on his right foot for ten thousand.

   • 2003, E&P, page 3:

     In fact, a whole cottage industry seems to have developed around the world’s floating debris, so if you should find a Nike on the beach, check the serial number on the insole then contact the nearest oceanographic institute.

   • 2004, Ronald K. Fried, My Father’s Fighter, The Permanent Press, →ISBN:

     “Your shoes don’t match,” I say. “I know,” Mickey says, and as he answers he keeps jogging forward, but stops throwing punches. “The Nikes give me shin splints and the Asics hurt my knees, so I wear a Nike on my left foot where I have the bad knee and I wear the Asics on my right foot where the shin splints are worse.”

   • 2015, Janey Mack, Time’s Up, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 114:

     Next came the shoes. One at a time. I peered out from beneath the tree. A skinny woman in a hot pink satin bra leaned out the window, holding a Nike in optimum pitching position. A grubby, shirtless guy in sweatpants and bare feet rushed out of the building. “Jenna!” he screamed. “You bitch! Don’t you dare!” “Bite me!” Jenna threw the Nike.

Anagrams

• Enki, inke, kine, kine-

Chinese

Etymology

From English Nike.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): nai¹ ki²

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: nai¹ ki²
    • Yale: nāi kí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: nai¹ ki²
    • Guangdong Romanization: nei¹ ki²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɐi̯⁵⁵ kʰiː³⁵/

Proper noun

Nike

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Nike (company)

German

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniːkə/, /ˈniːke/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Nike f (proper noun, genitive Nike or (without the article) Nikes)

1. (Greek mythology) Nike

Declension

Declension of Nike [sg-only, feminine]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Nike
genitive	einer	der	Nike, Nikes1
dative	einer	der	Nike
accusative	eine	die	Nike

¹Without the article.

Etymology 2

From the brand, from English Nike, from the Greek word in etymology 1.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naɪ̯k/, /ˈnaɪ̯ki/
• The monosyllabic form, which is based on the most common British English pronunciation, was strongly predominant in the 1990s and is still frequently heard, potentially even from speakers who know that the company’s own preferred pronunciation is disyllabic.

Proper noun

Nike n (proper noun, strong, genitive Nikes)

1. Nike (company)

Noun

Nike m (strong, genitive Nikes or Nike, plural Nikes)

1. a Nike shoe

Japanese

Romanization

Nike

1. Rōmaji transcription of ニケ

Polish

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲi.kɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ikɛ
• Syllabification: Ni‧ke

Proper noun

Nike f (indeclinable)

1. Nike (Greek goddess)

Etymology 2

From the American brand, from English Nike, from Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaj.ki/
• Rhymes: -ajki
• Syllabification: Ni‧ke

Proper noun

Nike f (indeclinable)

1. Nike (company)

Further reading

• Nike in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

From the brand, from English Nike, from Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnai.ki/, [ˈnaiki]

Proper noun

Nike f

1. Nike (company)