bodikin

English

Alternative forms

• bodykin

Etymology

From body +‎ -kin.

Noun

bodikin (plural bodikins)

1. A small body; forming part of the exclamatory phrase "ods bodikin".
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     Odd's bodikin, man, better: use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping?

References

• Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, Vol 1, p0608, bodikin