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Nerd

2 stages from American English to English.

Today it means a person seen as overly studious or obsessed with a technical interest

Where does the word "nerd" come from? It comes from American English nerd, adopted directly into English (1951).

1
Stage 1 of 2
nerd
American English · 1950
"an imaginary animal"
first printed as a made-up creature in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo (1950); its link to the later slang is uncertain
2
Stage 2 of 2
nerd
American English · 1951
"dull or studious person"
Newsweek reported in 1951 that Detroit teenagers called a dull person a 'nerd'; computing culture from the 1980s partly rehabilitated it
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Nerd’s story begins in American English: nerd meant “an imaginary animal.” First printed as a made-up creature in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo (1950); its link to the later slang is uncertain. It reached English by 1951 as nerd. Newsweek reported in 1951 that Detroit teenagers called a dull person a 'nerd'; computing culture from the 1980s partly rehabilitated it. Today, nerd means a person seen as overly studious or obsessed with a technical interest.