Definition:
A one-word name (such as "Oprah," "Bono," or "Beck") by which a person or thing is known.
See also:
Etymology:
From the Greek, "one" + "word" or "name"Examples and Observations:
- "The parade of mononyms on the pop chart is getting monotonous: Beyoncé, Pink, Adele, Rihanna, Duffy, Akon, Usher, Mims, Eminem, Seal, Brandy, Joe et al."
(Jon Bream, "Estelle: The First Name in One-Name Pop Stars." Star Tribune (Minneapolis-Saint Paul), Feb. 28, 2010) - "To the world he was Lukas. The Edinburgh-born rock star had sported the mononym since his early days with the band G7; and the first of the four platinum albums he had recorded since starting a solo career was, as the industry had it, 'self-titled.'"
(Robert Ludlum, The Bancroft Strategy. St. Martin's Press, 2006) - "The word paranoia has not only the advantage of having acquired a special meaning, namely insanity with more or less systematized delusional beliefs, but it has also the advantage of being a mononym, a one-word name."
(F.X. Dercum, "The Heboid-Paranoid Group." American Journal of Insanity, April 1906) - "Chakotay
ORIGIN: 24th-century Earth
SOURCE: Star Trek: Voyager (TV series: 1995-2001)
A Native American of the fictional Anurabi tribe, this Star Trek: Voyager officer's mononym means 'earth walking man' in his native language."
(Robert Schnakenberg, Sci-Fi Baby Names. Quirk Books, 2007) - "In an apparent attempt to model her marketing on the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé and Cher, Mrs. Clinton's site proclaimed: 'Today, Hillary took the first step' and 'Send Hillary a message of support' and 'Hillary is the Democrats' best shot.'"
(Peter Funt, "The Mononym Platform." The New York Times, Feb. 21, 2007)
Pronunciation: MON-o-nim
