Name That -nym
Friday February 20, 2009
We've all played with words that have similar or opposite meanings, so no points for recognizing synonym* and antonym. And almost everyone online relies on a pseudonym. But how about some of the lesser known -nyms (a suffix derived from the Greek word for "name" or "word")? If you recognize more than three or four of these terms without peeking at the definitions, you're entitled to call yourself a genuine Nymskull.
Click on each term to visit a glossary page where you'll find additional examples and more detailed explanations.
- Acronym
A word formed from the initial letters of a name (for example, NATO, from North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or by combining the initial letters of a series of words (radar, from radio detection and ranging). - Allonym
The name of a person (usually a historical person) assumed by a writer as a pen name. For example, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison published The Federalist Papers under the allonym Publius, a Roman consul. - Eponym
A word (such as cardigan) derived from the proper name of a real or mythical person or place (in this case, the Seventh Earl of Cardigan, James Thomas Brudenell). - Exonym
A place name that isn't used by the people who live in that place. Vienna, for example, is the English exonym for the German and Austrian Wien. - Heteronym
A word that is spelled the same as another word but has a different pronunciation and meaning--such as the noun minute (meaning 60 seconds) and the adjective minute (exceptionally small or insignificant). - Mononym
A one-word name (such as "Oprah" or "Bono") by which a person or thing is popularly known. - Oronym
A sequence of words (for example, "ice cream") that sounds the same as a different sequence of words ("I scream"). - Paronym
A word derived from the same root as another word. Poet Robert Frost offers two examples: "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." - Retronym
A new word or phrase (such as snail mail or analog watch) created for an old object or concept whose original name has become associated with something else. - Toponym
A place name (such as Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s) or a word coined in association with the name of a place (such as bikini, a brief bathing suit).
* If you already knew that poecilonym is a synonym for synonym, go straight to the head of the class.
Comments
Someone once tried to tell me that fictional names chosen to reveal character: Malvolio, Mercutio, Doll Tearsheet, Charles Surface, etc. were called characternyms. It seemed too pat and uninteresting. Is there another -nym word for such names?
A “charactonym” (sometimes spelled “characteronym”) is a name that suggests the personality traits of a fictional character, such as Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Choakumchild, two unpleasant educators in the novel “Hard Times,” by Charles Dickens.
what does the name malvolio actually mean? Please help! Thank you