Definition:
A name that suggests the personality traits of a fictional character, such as Mr. Gradgrind and M'Choakumchild, two unpleasant educators in the novel Hard Times, by Charles Dickens. Adjective: charactonymic.
See also:
Etymology:
Blend of "character" + the Greek word for "name" or "word"Examples and Observations:
- "The entry under Remus Lupin, [J.K. Rowling] said, missed the opportunity to comment on the etymology of the name as a 'double allusion' to the character’s being a werewolf, since in Roman mythology Remus was raised by wolves, and Lupin derived from lupine."
(Anemona Hartocollis, "Rowling Testifies Against Lexicon Author." The New York Times, April 15, 2008) - "In the final analysis [of John Updike's novel Rabbit, Run], Rabbit's lack of inner resources causes his inability to change and to embrace life, leaving him in a state of perpetual male angst (n.b., Updike's surname choice of Angstrom)."
(Mahala Yates Stripling, Bioethics and Medical Issues in Literature. Greenwood, 2005) - "[Little Orphan] Annie's benefactor was 'Daddy' Warbucks, who,
as his name implied, was a munitions tycoon if not an outright war profiteer."
(Stephen Hess, The Ungentlemanly Art: A History of American Political Cartoons. Macmillan, 1968)
Also Known As: characteronym
