Nazi, the informal and originally derogatory term for a party member, abbreviates the party's name (
Nationalsozialist [natsi̯oˈnaːlzotsi̯aˌlɪst]), and was coined in analogy with
Sozi (pronounced
[ˈzoːtsiː]), an abbreviation of
Sozialdemokrat (member of the rival
Social Democratic Party of Germany).
[d][27] Members of the party referred to themselves as Nationalsozialisten (National Socialists), but some did occasionally embrace the colloquial
Nazi (so
Leopold von Mildenstein in his article series
Ein Nazi fährt nach Palästina published in
Der Angriff in 1934). The term
Parteigenosse (party member) was commonly used among Nazis, with its corresponding feminine form
Parteigenossin.
[28]
Before the rise of the party, these terms had been used as colloquial and derogatory words for a backward
peasant, or an awkward and clumsy person. It derived from Ignaz, a shortened version of
Ignatius,
[29][30] which was a common name in the Nazis' home region of
Bavaria.
Opponents seized on this, and the long-existing Sozi, to attach a dismissive nickname to the National Socialists.[30][31]
In 1933, when Adolf Hitler assumed power in the German government, the usage of "Nazi" diminished in Germany, although Austrian anti-Nazis continued to use the term.
[27] The use of "Nazi Germany" and "Nazi regime" was popularised by anti-Nazis and German exiles abroad. Thereafter, the term spread into other languages and eventually was brought back to Germany after World War II.
[31] In English, the term is not considered slang and has such derivatives as
Nazism and
denazification.
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