onomastics
/ˌɑː.noʊˈmæs.tɪks/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.26 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The branch of lexicology devoted to the study of names and naming, especially the origins of names.
Example Sentences
- "Her father had long been a student of onomastics, and loved to unpack the names of people they encountered as children."
- "From the point of view of onomastics, proper names fulfill many functions (individualizing, localizing, differentiating etc.)."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ Proto-Hellenic *ónomə Ancient Greek ὄνομᾰ (ónomă) Ancient Greek -ᾰ́ζω (-ắzō) Ancient Greek ὀνομάζω (onomázō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τῐκός (-tĭkós) Ancient Greek ὀνομᾰστῐκός (onomăstĭkós)bor. English onomastic Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English onomastics First attested in 1936, from the adjective onomastic (“of or belonging to naming”) (1716) with a suffix -s, from French onomastique, from Ancient Greek ὀνομαστικός (onomastikós), from ὀνομαστός (onomastós, “named”), form of ὀνομάζω (onomázō, “I name”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”) (whence English name).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: onomastique, ὀνομαστικός, *h₁nómn̥
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɑː.noʊˈmæs.tɪks/
- British English: /ˌɒ.nəʊˈmæs.tɪks/
Derived Forms
Phrases
socio-onomastics