chickabiddy: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

It is extremely rare in contemporary speech. Its use is mostly confined to historical fiction, references to old nursery rhymes, or as a self-consciously old-fashioned or humorous term of affection.

Almost never. If used for an adult, it would be deeply patronizing, sarcastic, or an inside joke, implying the person is being childish.

It is a reduplicative nursery formation from the mid-19th century, combining 'chick' (young bird) with a rhyming, nonsense suffix '-abiddy' to create a playful, melodic sound appealing to children.

Yes, it appears in the classic nursery rhyme "Old Mother Goose": "Old Mother Goose, / When she wanted to wander, / Would ride through the air / On a very fine gander. / Mother Goose had a house, / 'Twas built in a wood, / Where an owl at the door / For sentinel stood. / She had a son Jack, / A plain-looking lad, / He was not very good, / Nor yet very bad. / She sent him to market, / A live goose he bought, / 'Here, mother,' says he, / 'It will not go for nought.' / Jack's goose and her gander / Grew very fond; / They'd both eat together, / Or swim in one pond. / Jack found one morning, / As I have been told, / His goose had laid him / An egg of pure gold. / Jack rode to his mother, / The news for to tell; / She called him a good boy, / And said it was well. / Jack sold his gold egg / To a merchant untrue, / Who cheated him out of / The half of his due. / Then Jack went a-wooing / A wife for his turn; / 'For,' said he, 'I'm in pain / Till a wife I do earn.' / He soon got a wife, / And she was a beauty; / Without any doubt, / She did all her duty. / She sent him to market, / To sell his wife's butter; / Jack, like a good husband, / Thought he must not mutter. / But as he was going / Along the highway, / He met with a man / Who asked him the way. / 'The way?' says Jack, 'I / Don't know, I declare; / But I am going to market / To sell my wife's ware.' / 'Your wife's ware?' says he, / 'I should like to see that; / I'll give you a penny / To buy you a hat.' / Jack showed him his butter, / As fresh as a daisy; / The man was a rogue, / And his name it was Crazy. / He took out his knife, / And he cut off a slice; / 'Now, Jack,' says he, 'this / Will do for a nice.' / Jack went on to market, / And sold all his butter; / But when he came home, / His wife in a flutter / Said, 'Jack, you're a good boy, / And now you shall see / What a good wife I've been, / And what I've got for thee.' / She showed him a new hat, / And a fine suit of clothes; / 'And all this,' says she, / 'From the sale of one rose.' / 'A rose?' says Jack, 'I / Sold butter, I'm sure.' / 'No, no,' says his wife, / 'You sold my one flower.' / Poor Jack he looked puzzled, / But soon understood; / For the rogue at the cross-roads / Had done what was good. / So Jack and his wife / Lived happy for life, / And he called her his dear, / His joy, and his wife; / But most of all, when she pleased him, / He called her his 'chickabiddy'."

A term of endearment, especially for a young child.

Chickabiddy is usually informal, familiar, affectionate, archaic in register.

Chickabiddy: in British English it is pronounced /ˈtʃɪkəˌbɪdi/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈtʃɪkəˌbɪdi/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.