Nazi was a derogatory term for a backwards peasant, being a shortened version of Ignatius, a common name in Bavaria, the area from which the Nazis emerged.
According to Mark Forsyth writing in The Etymologicon, opponents quickly shortened the term to Nazi, which had been a term of abuse for years.
"Hitler wouldn't have called himself a Nazi,” Forsyth said
"Nazi is, and always has been, an insult.”
Just as other countries had shortened terms of abuse, or at least ridicule, the term for Bavarians was Nazi.
At first Hitler and his team, regarded as hicks, did not like the Nazi term.
Then they tried to turn it to their advantage, with only limited success.
When they gained power they dealt with anybody who called Hitler a Nazi.
The NSDAP briefly adopted the Nazi designation, attempting to reappropriate the term, but soon gave up this effort and generally avoided it while in power.
The use of "Nazi Germany”, "Nazi regime”, and so on was popularised by German exiles abroad.
From them, the term spread into other languages and was eventually brought back to Germany.
The book Strange and Fascinating Facts by Don McCombs and Fred L Worth claimed that Konrad Heiden was the individual who coined the term Nazi, but this was quickly disputed.
The book said Heiden was forced to flee Germany in 1933 because of his anti-Hitler stand.
My big dictionary says Nazidom is the concepts and institutions of the Nazi Party.
Nazify is adopting Nazi as the doctrines of the Nazi Party.
Nazism is the official doctrine of the Nazi Party, especially relating to racial sovereignty
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