Soccer

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈsÉ’k.É™/
• US IPA: /ˈsÉ‘k.Éš/
• Rhymes: -É’kÉ™(ɹ)

Origin

Colloquial abbreviation for Association football, via abbreviation assoc. + -er; earlier socca (1889), then socker (1891), with soccer attested 1895.

Compare contemporary rugger, from Rugby, and note vulgar connotations of analogous *asser if abbreviating on first syllable.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Full definition of soccer

Noun

1. (chiefly North America, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa) Association football, a game in which two teams of eleven players contend to get a round ball into their opponent's goal primarily by kicking the ball with their feet.

Synonyms

• association football UK, formal, rarely used
• football ambiguous; this term may also refer to: American football, Australian Rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, Rugby League, Rugby Union

Derived terms

• soccer mom

Related terms

• rugger

Verb

1. (Australian rules football) To kick the football directly off the ground, without using one's hands.
• 1990 Geoffrey Blainey, A Game of Our Own: The Origins of Australian Football, 2003, Black Inc. Publishing, p73.The rule seems to have encouraged players to soccer the ball along the ground.
• 2008, John Devaney, Full Points Footy′s WA Football Companion, %22soccering%22+australia+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=bFFj2s1Wqn&sig=j5yD5sD85WtwNUs5qaYg14UfX3E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vFhXUJ6CJMWZiQfN7YH4Bw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22soccered%22|%22soccering%22%20australia%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 334,...West Perth seemed on the verge of victory, only to succumb by 4 points after a soccered goal from Old Easts with less than half a minute remaining.
• 2010 March 27, Michael Whiting, “Lions give Fev debut to remember”, AFL - The official site of the Australian Football League.Fevola showed the best and worst of his play after dropping a simple chest mark, only to regather seconds later and soccer the ball through from the most acute of angles.