Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Nickname \Nick"name`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nicknamed}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Nicknaming}.]
   To give a nickname to; to call by a nickname.

         You nickname virtue; vice you should have spoke.
                                                  --Shak.

         I altogether disclaim what has been nicknamed the
         doctrine of finality.                    --Macaulay.