soccer
soccer Lexical Profile
soccer Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A team sport played between two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goals at each end, in which the ball is moved primarily by kicking or using any part of the body except the hands and arms (which only the goalkeepers may use within their penalty area); association football.
"The children spent the entire afternoon playing soccer in the neighborhood park."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'soccer' is the standard term for the sport in North America, Australia, and parts of Ireland and South Africa, it is predominantly referred to simply as 'football' in the United Kingdom and most other parts of the world.
• Rhymes for soccer
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in late 19th-century England as Oxford University student slang, formed by shortening 'Association' (from 'Association Football') to 'assoc' and adding the colloquial suffix '-er' (compare 'rugger' for rugby).
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.