The 58-year-old was paralysed from the neck down after suffering a stroke in 2005 and described his life since then as a "living nightmare".
Last week Mr Nicklinson, from Melksham, Wiltshire, lost his High Court case to allow doctors to end his life.
His family solicitor said that he had refused food from last week.
Saimo Chahal said Mr Nicklinson died at home at about 10:00 BST accompanied by his wife, Jane, and two daughters, Lauren and Beth.
'Heartbroken by decision'
She said: "Jane told me that Tony went rapidly downhill over last weekend, having contracted pneumonia."
She added: "Jane said that, after Tony received the draft judgment on 12 August refusing his claim, the fight seemed to go out of him.
"He said that he was heartbroken by the High Court decision that he could not end his life at a time of his choosing with the help of a new doctor.
"He could not understand how the legal argument on his behalf could not succeed."
She said Mr Nicklinson had told her two days after the ruling he was "crestfallen, totally devastated and very frightened".
He had added: "I fear for the future and the misery it is bound to bring."
"I suppose it was wrong of me to invest so much hope and expectation into the judgment but I really believed in the veracity of the argument and quite simply could not understand how anybody could disagree with the logic."
"I guess I forgot the emotional component."
Ms Chahal said Mr Nicklinson had made an advanced directive in 2004 refusing any life-sustaining treatment.
Mr Nicklinson's family had earlier updated his personal Twitter account.
The messages said: "You may already know, my Dad died peacefully this morning of natural causes. he was 58.
"Before he died, he asked us to tweet: 'Goodbye world the time has come, I had some fun'."
Mr Nicklinson had been paralysed since suffering a stroke while on a business trip to Athens.
He had campaigned for the law to be changed to allow doctors to assist his suicide without fear of prosecution.
He said: "What I find impossible to live with is the knowledge that... I have no way out - suicide - when this life gets too much to bear."Prior to last week's case, in an article he wrote for the BBC, he had described his life as "a living nightmare".
He added: "It cannot be acceptable in 21st Century Britain that I am denied the right to take my own life just because I am physically handicapped."
However, three High Court judges rejected his plea for the law to be changed, saying the issue should be left to Parliament.
Another man, known only as Martin, who is 47, also lost his case to end his life with medical help.
Wiltshire Police said the force was not investigating Mr Nicklinson's death.
A spokesman said: "His death certificate has been signed by a doctor, so it is not a matter for Wiltshire Police or the coroner."
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