Names of Words that Name Other Words
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Words ending in nym and onym (from Greek onoma=name or word) are often used to describe different classes of words, and the relationships between words. You might recognize some of these from your English classes, but most of them we seldom if ever use. Just think how you could impress your friends, confuse your enemies and out-do your rivals if you could rattle a few off in conversation!
Acronym (Greek akros=point, tip). An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a series of words. This abbreviation is pronounced like a word; e.g. RADAR (radio detection and ranging) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), SNAFU (situation normal, all fouled up)
Allonym (Greek allo=other). The name of another person assumed by the author of a work, i.e., work published under the name of some one not the author. When something is “ghost written” the actual author writes the book for the person who is paying to have the book written. Some celebrities have their “autobiographies” ghost-written.
Ananym (Greek ana=back). A name with the letters reversed. Darb Ttip would be Brad Pitt, Serutan ( a once-popular “tonic”) is Natures spelled backward, in Harry Potter, there is the Mirror of Erised; this is “desire” reversed (the mirror showed the viewer his heart’s desire in the reflection), and old sci-fi movie had a robot named Tobor, Oprah Winfrey’s production company is called Harpo.
Anatonym (Greek anat)--refers to a part of the body that is used as a verb--“toe the line", “face the music", “mouth the words”, "nose out the secrets”, “finger the merchandise” “foot the bill.”
Antonym (Greek anti=against). Two (or more) words that have opposite (or near-opposite) meanings; e.g. stop and go, up and down, friend and enemy. Also called contranyms or contronyms.
Anthroponym (Greek anthro=man, mankind, human)—personal name. John Doe, Manuel Ortega, Isaac Hayes.
Apostonym—a word that becomes different when the apostrophe is removed—I’ll is ill, she’ll is shell, he’ll is hell, can’t is cant (means slang or jargon), won’t is wont (means custom or habit), Mary’s is Marys (more than one Mary).
Aptronym (apt=suitable. word coined by American newspaperman Franklin P. Adams.) A name that matches its owner's occupation or character--poet William Wordsworth, chiropractor Dr. AchenBach (achin’ back), tennis star Margaret Court, inventor of flush toilets Thomas Crapper, White House press spokesman Tony Snow (to “snow” someone is slang for convincing someone with insincere talk)
Aristonym (Greek aristos=the best).--A surname derived from a formal title of nobility or high rank (albeit could be centuries back!). Billie Jean King, Jean LeDuc, Gene DuQueen.
Autoantonym (Greek auto=self & anti=against). A word that has two or more opposite meanings such as: buckle (to fasten OR to come undone), scan (to glance at in haste OR to examine closely), and trim (to add to OR to cut pieces off). (Also called antagonyms, contranyms, contronyms, antilogies, Janus words, and enantiodromes)
Autonym (Greek auto=self). A word that describes itself (noun is a noun); a person’s real name (Jim Carey); a name by which a specific group calls itself (Dine is what the people we call Navajos call themselves).
Bacronym (from back(wards) & acronym). The reverse of an acronym. Instead of taking a taking a multi-word name or phrase and using the initial letters to form another word as in an acronym, a bacronym takes an existing word and uses the letters to create a phrase. The phrase is usually meant to amuse. They are fun to try. Take any word, and make a title or phrase from it. STEW could mean “Students Trying Earring Welding; POOF could mean “People of Ottawa Folk-dancing” GIGGLE could mean “Girls in Green Galoshes Love Eminem.”
Capitonym (from capitalized). A word which changes meaning and pronunciation when it is capitalized—Job (a book in the Bible) and job (a form of employment); polish (make shiny) and Polish (from Poland), august (grand or inspiring) and August (the eighth month); Lima (the capitol of Peru) and lima (a kind of bean).
Caconym (Greek caco=bad)—a word that is used incorrectly or is a misnomer (beings from Venus are not Venusians, they are Venerians); a wrongly derived name (scientific classifications that are erroneously applied).
Charactonym—a name that suggests the personality of a fictional character—Remus Lupin (werewolf from Harry Potter), Mrs. Malaprop (A character in the play The Rivals. A malapropism is humorous misuse of a word), Snidely Whiplash (villain in Dudley Doright cartoons & movie).
Cohyponym (Greek co=with, hypo=under)—is a word which is one of multiple hyponyms of another word. In the word string bird--finch, sparrow, parrot, stork; the last four are all hyponnyms of “bird” and are cohyponyms.
Consonym (con=with)—words that have the same pattern of consonants. Examples: CLeVeR—CLeaVeR, SaLaD—SoLiD, eTHNiC—TheNCe, PReDiCTS—PRoDuCTS.
Cryptonym (Greek crypto=secret)--a secret or code name, such as: Deep Throat (from X-files), Wilfred (the code name for a British WWII operation concerning Norway), Heimdall (WWII German code name for radar), Manhattan Project (early US nuclear project), Whistler (the code name for Windows XP during development. Longhorn was the code name for Windows Vista).
Demonym/donunym(Greek—dem=people; dom=home)—a word (noun OR adjective) that names a resident of a particular city, territory, or country usually formed by adding a suffix to the place name. (The suffixes that the English languages uses are: an, ian, ine, ite, er, ish, ese, i, ic, iote). Hawkeyes are a nickname for people from Iowa, Parisian (from Paris), Argentine (from Argentina), Moscovite (from Moscow), Londoner (from London), Danish (Denmark), Vietnamese, (Vietnam), Israeli (Israel), Germanic (the ‘ic’ ending refers to a ethnic or linguistic group more than a place name), (Cypriote (Cyprus).
Desynonym (de=removed, away)—a word that was a synonym with a particular word but isn’t now. bishop/presbyter, cute/nice, bureau/writing desk..
Dionym (Greek di=two, double)—consisting of two terms or parts—David Beckham, Josh Brolin; zoology or botany--Tyrannosaurus Rex, Iris hollandica.
Eponym (Greek epo=on). A name from which another name or word is derived. These words can be common or proper nouns, as well as adjectives. They are not always capitalized. Examples are: Lord Cardigan—cardigan sweater; Alfred Nobel—Nobel Prize; Aristotle—Aristotelian logic; Queen Victoria—Victorian; Amelia Bloomer—bloomers; and many more.
Ethonym (Greek etho=group characteristics)—name of a people or ethnic group (not named necessarily by where they live however). Irish, Swedish, Italian. There are many Japanese living in Brazil.
Euonym (Greek eu=good)--A beautiful, pleasing, or good name—well-suited--a lucky name (Tess Trueheart; John Goodman, Sparkle Plenty (a character in Dick Tracy comics).
Euphonym (Greek eu (good) & phon=sound)—a name chosen because it sounds good or pleasing. The meaning of the word is secondary. Dove Soap (it isn’t made of doves, but the word ‘doves’ sounds gentle and pure!), Midas Mufflers (they are neither royal nor made of gold!), Dairy Queen (a soft ice cream), Buick Regal (a car), Grandma’s Attic (the name of a gift shop).
Exonym (Greek expo=outside). A place name used by foreigners that differs from the name used by the inhabitants of that place. These are some of the English exonyms for other places or peoples: Germany—Deutschland, Poland—Polska, Japan—Nippon, Gypsies—Roma, Dutch—Nederlanders, Eskimo—Inuit.
Gendernym (Greek gen=kind, type)—having a masculine and a feminine version: actor/actress, blond/blonde, hermano/hermana, Francis/Frances, Juan/Juana.
Gynonym (Greek gyn=woman)—a female name. Sarah, Fatima, Helga, Maria.
Heteronym** (Greek hetero=other). One of two (or more) words that have the same spelling, but have different meanings when pronounced differently. Another term is heterophones. Here are a few: lead, attribute, bass, close, wind, desert, dove, house, minute, sewer. These might also be called epi-isonyms.
Hiernym (Greek hieros=sacred)—A surname based on a scared name: Adela Rogers St. John.
Holonym (Greek holo=whole)—a word that gives the whole of which the given word is a part. (car--the whole-- is a holonym of steering wheel--the part; pie—the whole, crust—the part; foot—the whole, toe—the part.)
Homonym** (Greek homo=same). These are words that have the same pronunciation but have different meanings. Way/weigh, meet/meat, alter/altar, arc/ark, ball/bawl, build/billed, chews/choose, would/wood.
**(Homonyms which have the same spelling are also heteronyms; homonyms that have the same pronunciation, but different spelling and meaning, are also homophones; and homonyms that have the same spelling but are different in origin, meaning, and pronunciation are also homographs. Confused yet???)
Hydronym (Greek hydro=water)—the name of a water feature. Examples: Loch Ness, the Thames, Pacific Ocean, the Red Sea.
Hypernym/hyperonym (Greek hyper=beyond, more than)—a general word that has more specific words related to it (dance is the hypernym of ballet, foxtrot, waltz, jitterbug, etc.; fruit is the hypernym of apples, mangoes, oranges, kumquats, peaches, etc.)
Hyponym (Greek hypo=under)—specific word that is applicable to a general word (teeth, lips, gums, are hypernyms of mouth; stem, petal, stamen, leaves are hyponyms of flower)
Isonym (Greek iso=equal) -- word having the same derivation or form as another such as: project, eject, interject ("ject" is a root word meaning to throw), chronicle, chronometer, chronology (“chrono” is a root word meaning time).
Malonym (Greek mal=badly)—1. A metaphor, cliché, or popular expression mangled by the use of an incorrect word (similar to a “malapropism”). There was a movie producer, Sam Goldwyn, some years ago who was famous for his malonyms. “A verbal contact isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” “I don’t think anyone should write his autobiography until he’s dead.” “You gotta take the bitter with the sour.” (The phrase is: “the bitter with the sweet”.)
2. An ill-considered offerings by a spell checker (My spell-check just brought up Maloney as a “correction” for malonym!)
Meronym (Greek meros=part). 1. A word that refers to a part of what another word refers to (whew!). So in an arm, the elbow is part of the arm, so elbow is the meronym. Here’s some more (the meronym is the second word of a pair): necklace/clasp, hat/brim, shirt/sleeve, table/leg, cup/handle, Springdale School System/Roosevelt High School.
2. A meronym can also mean a term that is midway between two opposites-- warm between hot/cold, flat between convex/concave, present between past/future, average between best/worst.
Metonym (Greek meta=change). A word that symbolizes or is substituted for the name of something associated with it. The White House for the US President, the Crown for a monarchy, the Press for news media, the deep for the ocean, the knife for surgery (going under the knife).
Metronym (Greek metros=mother). A name derived from the name of one's mother, or another female ancestor. Hard to find examples, so I am guessing it would be things like: Lee (when mother’s name is Leila), Margery (when grandmother’s name is Margaret), and even “This is Hilda’s daughter (in a broad sense, “Hilda’s daughter is being used as a name.)
Mononym (Greek mono=one)—one word name: Cher, Alice, Hansel. Some people are so famous (or infamous) that they are recognized by one name: Caesar, Attila, Elvis, Madonna, Hannibal.
Morphonym (Greek morph=form)—zoological specimen’s name, e.g., Felis lynx pardina.
Necronym (Greek necro=dead)—name of a dead person: Julius Caesar, King Richard III, Charles de Gaulle.
Neuronym (Greek neur=nerve)—name of a nerve or nervous system. Sciatic nerve, Optic nerve, Phrenic nerve.
Organym (Greek organikos=instrument)—technical name of an organ.
Oronym (from oral=spoken). A phrase which is homophonic with another phrase. Examples are: Some others/some mothers, ice cream/I scream, comes up/come sup, a nice drink/an ice drink, see Mabel/seem able.
Paedonym (Greek paidi=boy)-- name taken from one's child. See teknonym.
Paranym (Greek para=beside, beyond)—A word or words whose meaning is altered to conceal, an evasion. Liberation instead of conquest, insurgent instead of terrorist, ethnic cleansing instead of genocide, (governments and the military are very good at paranyms.)
Paronym (Greek para=beside). A word that comes from the same root and often has a similar pronunciation and/or meaning as another. wild/wilderness, alternate/alternative, anoint/ointment, derive/derivative, judge/judgment, paternal/paternity, racionate/rational.
Patronym (Greek pate=father).A name derived from the name of one's father, or another male ancestor. (Swedish: Ola Nilsdotter (Ola Nil’s daughter), John Persson (John Peter’s son) “Hi, I’m Dave’s son.” (Dave’s son is being used as a “name” here.)
Phytonym (Greek phyte=plant)—name of a plant. Rose, Maple, Lilly.
Poecilonym (Greek poecilios=various)—a synonym for synonym! The use of several names for one thing.
Polyonym (Greek poly=many)--1. An object which has a variety of names. 2. A polynomial name or term. A female may be named Elizabeth, but Beth, Liz, Liza, Betty, Eliza, Lizzie may also be names she is called. A sandwich in a long roll may be called a hero, gyro, sub, po’boy or grinder.
Polypseudonyms (Greek poly=many)—having several pseudonyms. Many people in that chat on-line have several pseudonyms.
Protonym (Greek pro=before, first)—the first to have the name from which others are named. Examples: The first computer called Apple (now there are millions), the first car called a Ford, the first drink named a Bloody Mary.
Pseudoantonym (Greek pseudo=false; ant=opposite)—a word that appears to mean the opposite if what it does, e.g., inflammable (‘in’ is a negative prefix, but the word means that the thing DOES burn), unloosen (“un” is also a negative prefix, but the word means to free from fastenings), impassive (“im” is a negative prefix, but the word means without emotion or feeling--the same as "passive").
Pseudoeponym (Greek pseudo=false; eponymos=given a name)—a mistaken name given to the year.
Pseudonym (Greek pseudo=false). An assumed name—Authors: George Orwell was really Eric Arthur Blair, George Sand was really Mary Ann Evans, Elia was really Charles Lamb. Entertainment personalities often use them also (even though many eventually make the pseudonym their legal name)—Judy Garland was really Francis Gumm, Sting is really Gordon Sumner, David Bowie is really David Robert Jones, Michael Caine is really Maurice Micklewhite, Elton John is really Reginald Dwight. Criminals use them too (they are called “aliases”)—Jack (the Ripper) (unknown), Son of Sam (David Berkowitz), Mr. Howard was Jesse James, Butch Cassidy was Robert Leroy Parker. Anonym is another term for pseudonym.
Retronym (Greek retro=backward). The term was created by American journalist Frank Mankiewicz. It is an adjective +noun pairing usually generated by a technological change. The adjective is needed to differentiate between the different aspects of the original noun. Thus, a television becomes an analogue or high-definition television; transmissions become manual or automatic transmissions; Coke (the soda) becomes diet or classic Coke; oven to conventional or microwave oven; mail is both snail (regular) and e (electronic) mail
A retronym can also be when a word is reversed to make another word. I couldn’t think of an example, and the only one I found was boy=yob (British slang for a rude, violent, obnoxious young man)
Sideronym (Latin sidus=constellation)—a pseudonym consisting of the name of a celestial body name: Dr. Zodiac (for a mystic), Madam Altaira (for a psychic maybe).
Synonym (Greek syn=together or plus). Synonyms are words that have the same or quite similar meaning; e.g. food/victuals, beverage/drink, sing/warble, poor/destitute, cut/slice, laugh/giggle, move/relocate. Synonym Quiz
Tautonym (Greek taut=same). A word made up of two identical parts such as: so-so, yum-yum, tartar, murmur, yo-yo. You find many tautonyms in scientific zoological designations: bison bison (American Bison), gorilla gorilla (Western Gorilla), vulpes vulpes (Red Fox), cardinalis cardinalis (Northern Cardinal.
Taxonym (Greek tax=arrangement)—a name used for classification: Canine, hominid, felinus.
Teknonym (Greek teknon=child)--A name derived from a child's name that is used to address a parent. Are you going to play ball with us Bobsdad? (Bobsdad is the “name” in the sentence as said by a child. An adult would not phrase it that way.) Teknonyms are used in many (maybe all) cultures--in Japan and Africa for example, they are common.
Toponym (Greek topos=place). 1. A place name; Madrid, Mount Etna, Venice, the Last Chance Mine. 2. A word derived from a place name. Examples are: dungarees (Dongari Fort near Bombay—1696), champagne (Champagne, France), cashmere (from Kashmir in India), jersey (cloth or kind of pullover) (one of the Channel Isles), frankfurter (wiener) (Frankfurt, Germany), denim (contraction of serge de Nîmes from Nîmes, France).
Trionym (Greek tri=three)—consisting of three parts or terms. John Phillip Sousa, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jean Paul Sartre.
Troponym—a verb that is more specific than a related verb—to stroll is more specific than to walk, to waltz is more specific than to dance; to pant is more specific than to breathe.