Definition:
An informal term for a word or phrase that designates a person, place, or thing. See also:
- Onomastics
- Nickname
- Proper Noun
- Acronym
- Allonym
- Aptronym
- Demonym
- Endonym
- Exonym
- Mononym
- Pseudonym
- Toponym
Etymology:
From the Greek, "name"Examples and Observations:
- "There is no sharp dividing line between common words and proper names. They feed off each other. Many medieval surnames began as common nouns, especially those associated with occupations:
Archer, Baker, Barber, Brewer, Butcher, Carpenter, Cook, Farmer, Fisher, Goldsmith, Mason, Miller, Parson, Shepherd, Smith, Taylor, Thatcher, Weaver
Some are less obvious today. Trinder? A wheelmaker. Fletcher? An arrow-maker. Lorimer? A spur-maker. . . .
"Everyday words can be turned into a place name as circumstances require. The exploration routes of the world are full of such names as Cape Catastrophe, Skull Creek, and Mount Pleasant, plus hopeful names like Concord, Fame, and Niceville. The same trend affects streets, parks, promenades, quaysides, markets, and all the other places where we live."
(David Crystal, Words, Words, Words, Oxford Univ. Press, 2006) - "The mythical view of language which everywhere precedes the philosophical view of it is always characterized by this indifference of word and thing. Here the essence of everything is contained in its name. Magical powers attach directly to the word. He who gains possession of the name and knows how to make use of it, has gained power over the object itself; he has made it his own with all its energies. All word magic and name magic is based on the assumption that the world of things and the world of names form a single undifferentiated chain of causality and hence a single reality."
(Ernst Cassirer, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms: Language, Yale Univ. Press, 1953)
Pronunciation: NAM
Also Known As: proper name
