Etymology

nadsat

Nad·sat
N1A1D2S1A1T1

Today it means: The Russian-influenced argot used by the teenage protagonists in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange (1962). Full definition →

Russian -надцать
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The story

  1. Russian · borrowed from-надцать“-teen”
  2. English todayNadsat

Borrowed from Russian -надцать (-nadcatʹ, “-teen”). The word was coined by English author Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) in his 1962 dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1962 The Russian-influenced argot used by the teenage protagonists in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange (1962).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.