The

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

''-onym'' (from ) is a

bound morpheme In linguistics, a bound morpheme is a morpheme (the elementary unit of morphosyntax) that can appear only as part of a larger expression, while a free morpheme (or unbound morpheme) is one that can stand alone. A bound morpheme is a type of bound f ...

, that is attached to the end of a

root word A root (also known as a root word or radical) is the core of a word that is irreducible into more meaningful elements. In morphology, a root is a morphologically simple unit which can be left bare or to which a prefix or a suffix can attach. Th ...

, thus forming a new

compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...

that designates a particular ''class'' of

names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

. In

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

terminology, compound words that are formed with suffix ''-onym'' are most commonly used as designations for various onomastic classes. Most onomastic terms that are formed with suffix ''-onym'' are

classical compounds Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical languages (classical Latin or ancient Greek) roots. Neo-Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial componen ...

, whose word roots are taken from classical languages (Greek and Latin). For example, onomastic terms like

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

and linguonym are typical classical (or neoclassical) compounds, formed from suffix ''-onym'' and classical (Greek and Latin) root words ( / place; / language). In some compounds, the ''-onym'' morpheme has been modified by replacing (or dropping) the "o". In the compounds like '' ananym'' and '' metanym'', the correct forms ('' anonym'' and ''

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

'') were pre-occupied by other meanings. Other, late 20th century examples, such as ''

hypernym Hypernymy and hyponymy are the semantic relations between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term''. The hyponym names a subtype of ...

'' and '' characternym'', are typically redundant

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

s, for which there are more traditional words formed with the full ''-onym'' ('' hyperonym'' and '' charactonym''). The English suffix ''-onym'' is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

suffix (''ōnymon''), neuter of the suffix (''ōnymos''), having a specified kind of name, from the Greek (''ónoma''),

Aeolic Greek In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anat ...

ὄνυμα (''ónyma''), "name". The form ''-ōnymos'' is that taken by ''ónoma'' when it is the end component of a bahuvrihi compound, but in English its use is extended to tatpuruṣa compounds. The suffix is found in many modern languages with various spellings. Examples are: Dutch ''synoniem'', German ''Synonym'', Portuguese ''sinónimo'', Russian синоним (''sinonim''), Polish ''synonim'', Finnish ''synonyymi'', Indonesian ''sinonim'', Czech ''synonymum''. According to a 1988 study of words ending in ''-onym'', there are four discernible classes of ''-onym'' words: (1) historic, classic, or, for want of better terms, naturally occurring or common words; (2) scientific terminology, occurring in particular in linguistics, onomastics, etc.; (3) language games; and (4)

nonce word In linguistics, a nonce word—also called an occasionalism—is any word (lexeme), or any sequence of sounds or letters, created for a single occasion or utterance but not otherwise understood or recognized as a word in a given languag ...

s. Older terms are known to gain new, sometimes contradictory, meanings (e.g., ''eponym'' and ''cryptonym''). In many cases, two or more words describe the same phenomenon, but no precedence is discernible (e.g., ''necronym'' and ''penthonym''). New words are sometimes created, the meaning of which duplicating existing terms. On occasion, new words are formed with little regard to historical principles.

Words that end in ''-onym''

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

: considered to be a "word" in its original sense formed from the initials of one or more words that is pronounceable like a normal word, such as

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, sometimes in distinction to

initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wi ...

; reflecting a historical development from its component word initials * agoronym: a name of a square or a marketplace. * agronym: a name of a field or a plain. * allonym: an author's name of another person - often, a well-known person's name; an alternative term for a pseudonym *

anacronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wit ...

: an acronym so well-established that its origin as an abbreviation is no longer widely known and its component initials are in danger of no longer being recognized (a blend of

anachronism An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

and acronym) * andronym: a male name, or a man's name adopted by a woman as a pseudonym. * anonym: something created anonymously, or its creator; an unknown author; this term now generally replaced by pseudonym * anemonym: name of a hurricane or violent wind * anepronym: a portmanteau of anacronym and

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

; an original eponym of a trademark term that becomes so well established that it is used to define other objects that share its own definition (e.g.,

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

) * anthroponym: a proper name of a human being, individual or collective. * anthropotoponym: a type of

(place name) that is derived from an anthroponym *

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...

: a word with the exact opposite meaning of another word; an

antithesis Antithesis (: antitheses; Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introd ...

: often shown in opposite word pairs such as "high" and "low" (compare with "synonym") * apronym: a word which, as an acronym or backronym, has a meaning related to the meaning of the words constituting the acronym or backronym; such as

PLATO Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

for "Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching" alluding to

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

, the philosopher and teacher *

aptronym An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner (e.g. their occupation). Gene Weingarten of ''The Washington Post'' coined the word inaptonym as an antonym for "aptonym". The word "euonym" ( eu- + -o ...

: a name appropriate to its owner's occupation or physical properties, such as "Goldsmith" or "Longman" (compare with "charactonym") — coined by Franklin P. Adams * asteroidonym: a proper name of an asteroid. * astionym: a name of a town or city. * astronym: a name of a star (or more loosely of a constellation, or other heavenly body). * autoethnonym: an ethnonym of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by an ethnic group as a self-designation (see also: endoethnonym). * autoglossonym or autoglottonym: a glossonym / glottonym (language name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native speakers as a designation for their language. * autolinguonym: a linguonym (language name) of endonymic (native) origin, same as autoglossonym / autoglottonym (see also: endolinguonym). * autonym: Botanical nomenclature for an automatically created name. Not to be confused with onomastic '' autonym'', formerly used as a variant term for

endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

. *

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

: an ordinary word understood as an (usually amusing or ironic) acronym (a portmanteau of back + acronym), such as

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

understood as "Fix It Again Tomorrow" *

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

: the first name published for a biological taxon (species, genus, etc.), which remains the defining name for the taxon even when the taxon has been transferred to a new name * caconym: a bad name, either from poor formation (as through mixing Greek and Latin) or unpleasantness (as through lengthiness or cacophony) * capitonym: a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized, such as March and march or Polish and polish. * charactonym: a name of a fictional character reflected in his personality traits, such as Shakespeare's

Pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

or Bottom (compare with "aptronym") * choronym: a proper name of a region or a country. * chrematonym: a proper name of a particular (unique) object, natural or artificially made. For example: Hope Diamond (proper name of a famous diamond),

Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...

(proper name of a famous tapestry), or Wanamaker Organ (proper name of a famous musical instrument). * chresonym: Biol. use of a taxonomic name; historically sometimes referred to as a synonym. Sometimes divided into orthochresonyms (correct usages) and heterochresonyms (names incorrectly applied). * chrononym: a proper name of a time period, like the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, or the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. * cometonym: a proper name of a comet. * comonym: a name of a village. * contronym or antagonym or autoantonym: a word that may have opposite meanings in different contexts, such as ''cleave'' meaning ''"stick together"'' or ''"split apart"'' * cosmonym: a proper name of a cosmic feature, outside Earth. * cryptonym: a

code name A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

; a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word *

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

: a name, derived from a place name, for residents of that place (e.g., ''Utahn'', from Utah, or ''Sioux Cityan'', from Sioux City) — coined by George H. Scheetz, according to Paul Dickson in ''What Do You Call a Person From...? A Dictionary of Resident Names''. The term first appeared in print in 1988 in ''Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon'' by George H. Scheetz. See also taxonym. * dromonym: a name of a road or any other communication or transport route by land, water or air. * drymonym: a proper name of a wood or forest. * ecclesiastonym: a name referring to members of a religious entity, e.g. Methodist, Protestant, Rastafarian, Wiccan (from Greek ''ekklisiastís'' 'churchgoer') * ecclesionym: a name of a church. * endochoronym: a choronym (regional or country name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native population as a designation for their region or country. * endoethnonym: an ethnonym of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by an ethnic group as a self-designation (see also: autoethnonym). * endolinguonym: a linguonym (language name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native speakers as a designation for their language (see also: autolinguonym). *

: a self-assigned name by locals of a place, or a group of people; formerly also known as '' autonym'', but that term is polysemic (not to be confused with the autonym in botany). * endotoponym: a type of

(place name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native population as a designation for some toponymic feature in their homeland. *

: a botanical, zoological, artwork, or place name that derives from a real or legendary person; a name for a real or hypothetical person from whom a botanical, geographical, artwork or zoological name is derived; a person after whom a

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

condition is named, or the condition so named. A type of taxonym. * ergonym: a name of an incorporated work-oriented entity, like a workshop, company or any firm in general. * ethnochoronym: a choronym derived from an ethnonym. * ethnohydronym: a hydronym that is formed from an ethnonym. *

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

: a name of an ethnic group. * ethnotoponym: a type of

that is formed from an ethnonym. * exochoronym: a choronym (regional or country name) of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who don't belong to the native population of a referred territory. * exoethnonym: an ethnonym of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used as a designation for an ethnic group by those who do not belong to it. * exolinguonym: a linguonym (language name) of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who are not native speakers of that language. *

exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

: a name used by one group of people for another group, but who call themselves by a different name, such as "Germans" for "Deutsche"; a place name used by one group that differs from the name used by the people who live there, such as "

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

" for "''Köln''". * exotoponym: a type of

(place name) of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who don't belong to the native population of a region in which the referred toponymic feature is located. * gamonym: a name bestowed as a consequence of marriage. Judy Jones married Count Stephen Smith: her gamonyms include Mrs. Stephen Smith, Judy Smith, and Countess Smith. * geonym: a name of a geographic feature, on Earth. * glacionym: a name of a glacier. * glossonym ''or'' glottonym: a name of a language * gynonym: a female name, or a woman's name adopted by a man as a pseudonym. * hagionym: a name of a saint. * hagiotoponym: a type of

(place name) derived from a hagionym (name of a saint). * helonym: a name of a swamp, marsh, or bog. * heterochresonym: (biological taxonomy) see chresonym. * heteronym: a word that is spelled in the same way as another but that has a different sound and meaning, for example "bow" as in "bow of a ship" or "bow and arrow" (compare "homonym") * hodonym: a name of a street or road (also odonym). * holonym: a word for the whole of which other words are part, in the way ''house'' contains ''roof'', ''door'' and ''window''; or ''car'' contains ''steering-wheel'' and ''engine'' (compare "meronym") *

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

: 1: a: a word pronounced like another, but differing in meaning or derivation or spelling—also known as a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

(e.g. to, too, two). b: a word spelled like another, but differing in derivation or meaning or pronunciation—also known as a

homograph A homograph (from the , and , ) is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also be pronounced differently, while the Oxford English Dictionar ...

or heteronym (lead, to conduct, and lead, the metal). Compare autantonym, contronym, and heteronym. c: a word spelled and pronounced like another, but differing in meaning (pool of water, and pool, the game). 2: a namesake. 3: Biol. a taxonomic designation that is identical to another one of the same rank, but based on a different type; only one of the homonyms is considered a valid designation (see

homonym (biology) In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon. The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the s ...

). Compare to synonym. * hydronym: a name of river, lake, sea or any other body of water. *

: sometimes spelled hyperonym, a generic word that stands for a class or group of equally ranked items, such as "tree" for "beech" or "elm", or "house" for "chalet" or "bungalow". A hypernym is said to be "superordinate" to a hyponym. * hypocoronym,

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

, or hypocoristic: a colloquial, usually unofficial, name of an entity; a pet-name or "nickname" *

hyponym Hypernymy and hyponymy are the wikt:Wiktionary:Semantic relations, semantic relations between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term ...

: an item that belongs to and is equally ranked in a generic class or group, for example "lily" or "violet" in the class of "flowers"; or "limousine" or "hatchback" in the class of "automobiles". A hyponym is said to be "subordinate" to a hyperonym. * insulonym: a name of an island. * isonym: 1: a word having the same root or stem as another — also known as paronym. Compare exonym, heteronym, paronym, and synonym. 2: one person's surname that is the same as another person's surname. 3: Biol. a taxonomic designation that is identical to another designation, and based on the same type, but published at a different time by the same or other authors (see isonym (taxonomy)). * limnonym: a name of a lake or a pond. * logonym: a polysemic term, with several meanings. * linguonym: a name of a language * macrotoponym: a type of

that designates an important toponymic feature, that has a wider (regional, national, continental, global) significance. * meronym: a word that names a part that belongs to and is therefore subordinate to a larger entity; a part-whole relationship, such as "door" or "window" in "house", or "engine" or "steering-wheel" in "car" (compare "holonym") * meteoronym: a proper name of a meteor. *

: a word that substitutes a part for the whole it is associated with, for example "crown" for "monarch";

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word " suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such as sales ...

is the

figure of speech A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from straightforward language use or Denotation, literal meaning to produce a rhetorical or intensified effect (emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually, et ...

incorporating a metonym * matronym or matronymic: a name of a human being making reference to that person's mother (contrast "patronym") *

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

: a word indicating the "single name" as generally applied to people e.g. Madonna or Plato. * morphonym: a name of a taxonomic species. * microtoponym: a type of

that is used locally, as designation for some toponymic feature that has only a local significance. * necronym: a reference to or name of a person who has died. *

numeronym A numeronym is a word, usually an abbreviation, composed partially or wholly of numerals. The term can be used to describe several different number-based constructs, but it most commonly refers to a contraction in which all letters between the fir ...

: is a number-based word. * oceanonym: a name of an ocean. * odonym: a name of a street or road (also ''hodonym''). *

oikonym An oeconym, also econym, or oikonym (from , , 'house, dwelling' and , , 'name') is a specific type of toponym that designates a proper name of a house or any other residential building. In a broader sense, the term can also refer to the proper n ...

, also (Latinized) oeconym or econym: a name of a house or other building. * oronym: 1: a name of a hill, mountain, or mountain-range; 2: a neologism for same-sounding (homophonic) words or phrases. *

orthonym Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...

: The correct word for a concept in a specified language. By extension in some religious and ideological cults, the one that appears in the database of the ideological or religious registry of name (such as the church or nationalist civil register). * orthochresonym: (biological taxonomy) see chresonym. * paedonymic: a name adopted from one's child's name, as in the kunya of Islamic names or when one is identified by means of one's child's name ("Tim's dad"). * paronym: a word that is related to another word and derives from the same root; a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

word, such as ''dubious'' and ''doubtful'' *

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, ...

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

: a name adopted from the father's or ancestor's name, for example "Johnson" from "John," "MacDonald" from "Donald," "O'Brien" from "Brien," or "Ivanovich" from "Ivan" * pelagonym: a name of a sea. * phaleronym: a name of a medal, or any other honorary decoration. * phantonym: a word that looks like it would mean one thing, when in reality it means something completely different. Such as "noisome" meaning "smelly" or "unhealthy" and not "noisy". * phytonym: a name of an individual

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

. * planetonym: a proper name of a

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

. * plesionym or near-synonym: word that is almost synonymous with another word, but not quite * poetonym: a fictional or literary name * politonym: a name referring to members of a political entity * potamonym: a name of a river or a stream. * prosoponym: a personal name; full name of an individual person. *

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

: a false and fictitious name, especially one adopted by an author; a

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

retronym A retronym is a newer name for something that differentiates it from something else that is newer, similar, or seen in everyday life; thus, avoiding confusion between the two. Etymology The term ''retronym'', a neologism composed of the combi ...

: a compound or modified noun that replaces an original simple noun, for example "analog watch" now means what "watch" used to mean before the invention of the digital watch, and motorcycles became "solo motorcycles" when others were built with sidecars * speleonym: a name of a cave or some other subterranean feature. *

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

: 1: a word equivalent in meaning or nearly so to another word; a word that may be substituted for another word that has the same or a similar meaning, such as ''near'' and ''close'' (compare "antonym"). 2: In Biology, one or more names given to the same taxon, and so considered equivalent. Usually, only one of them is considered as correct (senior synonym in animal taxonomy, accepted name in plant taxonomy), while the other are considered deprecated (see

synonym (taxonomy) In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The Botanical nomenclature, botanical and Zoological nomenclature, zoological codes of nomencl ...

). * tautonym: a binomial or

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

in the

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of living things in which the generic and specific names are the same, such as ''

Gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...

gorilla''; a scientific name in which the specific name is repeated, such as ''

Homo sapiens sapiens Human taxonomy is the classification of the human species within zoological taxonomy. The systematic genus, ''Homo'', is designed to include both anatomically modern humans and extinct varieties of archaic humans. Current humans are classified ...

'' as distinct from '' Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''; a noun component that is repeated, such as ''

aye-aye The aye-aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'') is a long-fingered lemur, a Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger that they can use to catch grubs ...

'' or ''tom-tom''; a

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

where both forename and

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

are identical, such as ''Francis Francis'' * taxonym: a name used for classification or identification purposes, usually signifying a relationship to something. Taxonyms include binomens, names of

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s or

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

demonyms A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a Cultural group, group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (Hamlet (place), hamlet, vil ...

, ethnonyms, and

eponyms An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

. Examples include '' canine'', '' hominid'', and '' Dryad''. * teknonym: a name that refers to a parent by the name of one of their children. * textonym: a word that is generated by a single sequence of numerals keyed in to a mobile telephone; for example, ''726'' produces ''pam'', ''ram'', ''sam'', and ''ran''. Also called homonumeric words. * theonym: a name of a god or a goddess. The names societies give their gods at times is useful in understanding the origin of their language as well as their view of a particular deity. Analysis of theonyms has been useful in understanding the connections of

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, and possibly their religions, in particular. In Abrahamic faiths the origin and meaning of the

Tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

is sometimes deemed to have important historical or even metaphysical meaning. * theronym: a name — especially a product name — that has been derived from the name of an animal. * topoanthroponym: an anthroponym that is derived from a toponym.Gary Lefman (2013): Internationalisation of People Names
/ref> * topoethnonym: an ethnonym that is derived from a toponym. *

: a

place Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Of ...

geographical Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

name; the name of an area of the body, as distinguished from the name of an organ *

troponym In linguistics, troponymy is the presence of a 'manner' relation between two lexemes. The concept was originally proposed by Christiane Fellbaum and George Armitage Miller, George Miller. Some examples they gave are "to nibble is to eat in a cer ...

: a verb conveying a meaning that is a particular case of the meaning of another verb. For example, ''to duel'' is a troponym of ''to fight''; ''to write'' is a troponym of ''to communicate''; etc. The concept of ''troponym'' is to verbs as that of ''hyponym'' is to nouns. * urbanonym: a name of an urban element (street, square etc.) in towns and cities. * zoonym: a name of an animal.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * Scheetz, George H. "Onomasticon I." '' Word Ways'', 10 (August 1977): 165–67. Enlarged as "An Onomastic Onomasticon." * . "An Onomastic Onomasticon." ''ANS Bulletin,'' No. 65 (28 October 1981), pp. 4–7. Revised and enlarged as ''Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon.'' * . ''Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon.'' ("What's In a Name?" Chapbook Series; 2.) Sioux City, Ia.: Schütz Verlag, August 1988. The first separately published, comprehensive historical overview of words ending in ''-onym,'' including an annotated list of 137 such words.

External links

Words That End In nym : Words That End With nym

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onym Suffixes of Greek origin Types of words English suffixes Scientific suffixes Semantic relations

Words that end in ''-onym''

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

External links