The

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

''-onym'' (from grc, ὄνυμα / name) is a

bound morpheme In linguistics, a bound morpheme is a morpheme (the elementary unit of morphosyntax) that can appear only as part of a larger expression; a free morpheme (or unbound morpheme) is one that can stand alone. A bound morpheme is a type of bound form, ...

, that is attached to the end of a

root word A root (or root word) is the core of a word that is irreducible into more meaningful elements. In morphology, a root is a morphologically simple unit which can be left bare or to which a prefix or a suffix can attach. The root word is the prima ...

, thus forming a new

compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...

that designates a particular ''class'' of

names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A persona ...

. In

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

terminology, compound words that are formed with suffix -onym are most commonly used as designations for various

onomastic Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An ''orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, w ...

classes. Most onomastic terms that are formed with suffix -onym are

classical compounds Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots. New Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical and ...

, whose word roots are taken from

classical languages A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...

(Greek and Latin). For example, onomastic terms like

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

and

linguonym Linguonym (from la, lingua / language, and gr, ὄνομα / name) also known as glossonym (from grc, γλῶσσα / language) or glottonym (from Attic Greek: γλῶττα / language), is a linguistic term that designates a proper name of an ...

are typical classical (or neoclassical) compounds, formed from suffix ''-onym'' and classical (Greek and Latin) root words ( grc, τόπος / place; la, lingua / language). In some compounds, the ''-onym'' morpheme has been modified by replacing (or dropping) the "o". In the compounds like ''

ananym An anadrome is a word whose spelling is derived by reversing the spelling of another word. It is therefore a special type of anagram. There is a long history of names being coined as ananyms of existing words or names for entities related to the ...

'' and '' metanym'', the correct forms (''

anonym Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Some writers have argued that namelessness, though technically correct, does not capture what is more centrally at stake in contexts of anonymity. The important idea he ...

'' and ''

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

'') were pre-occupied by other meanings. Other, late 20th century examples, such as ''

hypernym In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...

'' and '' characternym'', are typically redundant

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

s, for which there are more traditional words formed with the full ''-onym'' (''

hyperonym In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...

'' and '' charactonym''). The English suffix ''-onym'' is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

suffix (''ōnymon''), neuter of the suffix (''ōnymos''), having a specified kind of name, from the Greek (''ónoma''),

Aeolic Greek In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anatolia ...

ὄνυμα (''ónyma''), "name". The form ''-ōnymos'' is that taken by ''ónoma'' when it is the end component of a

bahuvrihi A ''bahuvrihi'' compound (from sa, बहुव्रीहि, tr=bahuvrīhi, lit=much rice/having much rice, originally referring to fertile land but later denoting the quality of being wealthy or rich) is a type of compound word that denotes ...

compound, but in English its use is extended to

tatpuruṣa Sanskrit inherits from its parent, the Proto-Indo-European language, the capability of forming compound nouns, also widely seen in kindred languages, especially German, Greek, and also English. However, Sanskrit, especially in the later stages of ...

compounds. The suffix is found in many modern languages with various spellings. Examples are:

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''synoniem'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

''Synonym'',

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

''sinónimo'',

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

синоним (''sinonim''),

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

''synonim'',

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

''synonyymi'',

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

''sinonim'',

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

''synonymum''. According to a 1988 study of words ending in ''-onym'', there are four discernible classes of ''-onym'' words: (1) historic, classic, or, for want of better terms, naturally occurring or common words; (2) scientific terminology, occurring in particular in linguistics, onomastics, etc.; (3) language games; and (4)

nonce word A nonce word (also called an occasionalism) is a lexeme created for a single occasion to solve an immediate problem of communication.''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language''. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ...

s. Older terms are known to gain new, sometimes contradictory, meanings (e.g., ''eponym'' and ''cryptonym''). In many cases, two or more words describe the same phenomenon, but no precedence is discernible (e.g., ''necronym'' and ''penthonym''). New words are sometimes created, the meaning of which duplicating existing terms. On occasion, new words are formed with little regard to historical principles.

Words that end in -onym

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

: considered to be a "word" in its original sense formed from the initials of one or more words that is pronounceable like a normal word, such as

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, sometimes in distinction to

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

; reflecting a historical development from its component word initials * agoronym: a name of a square or a marketplace. * agronym: a name of a field or a plain. *

allonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

: an author's name of another person's, often a well-known person's, name; an alternative term for a pseudonym *

anacronym An acronym is a word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a ...

: an acronym so well-established that its origin as an abbreviation is no longer widely known and its component initials are in danger of no longer being recognized (a blend of

anachronism An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...

and acronym) * andronym: a male name, or a man's name adopted by a woman as a pseudonym. *

: something created anonymously, or its creator; an unknown author; this term now generally replaced by pseudonym * anepronym: a portmanteau of anacronym and

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

; an original eponym of a trademark term that becomes so well established that it is used to define other objects that share its own definition (e.g.,

aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...

) *

anthroponym Anthroponymy (also anthroponymics or anthroponomastics, from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος ''anthrōpos'' / 'human', and ὄνομα ''onoma'' / 'name') is the study of ''anthroponyms'', the proper names of human beings, both individual and co ...

: a proper name of a human being, individual or collective. * anthropotoponym: a type of

(place name) that is derived from an anthroponym *

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...

: a word with the exact opposite meaning of another word; an

antithesis Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together f ...

: often shown in opposite word pairs such as "high" and "low" (compare with "synonym") * apronym: a word which, as an acronym or backronym, has a meaning related to the meaning of the words constituting the acronym or backronym; such as

PLATO Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

for "Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching" alluding to

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, the philosopher and teacher *

aptronym An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner. History The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' attributes the term to Franklin P. Adams, a writer who coined it as an anagram of ''patronym'', to emphasize "apt ...

: a name appropriate to its owner's

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

or physical properties, such as "Goldsmith" or "Longman" (compare with "charactonym") — coined by Franklin P. Adams * asteroidonym: a proper name of an asteroid. * astionym: a name of a town or city. * astronym: a name of a star (or more loosely of a constellation, or other heavenly body). * autoethnonym: an ethnonym of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by an ethic group as a self-designation (see also: endoethnonym). *

autoglossonym Linguonym (from la, lingua / language, and gr, ὄνομα / name) also known as glossonym (from grc, γλῶσσα / language) or glottonym (from Attic Greek: γλῶττα / language), is a linguistic term that designates a proper name of an ...

autoglottonym Linguonym (from la, lingua / language, and gr, ὄνομα / name) also known as glossonym (from grc, γλῶσσα / language) or glottonym (from Attic Greek: γλῶττα / language), is a linguistic term that designates a proper name of an ...

: a glossonym / glottonym (language name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native speakers as a designation for their language. * autolinguonym: a linguonym (language name) of endonymic (native) origin, same as autoglossonym / autoglottonym (see also: endolinguonym). *

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

: Botanical nomenclature for an automatically created name. Not to be confused with onomastic ''

'', formerly used as a variant term for

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

. *

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

: an ordinary word understood as an (usually amusing or ironic) acronym (a portmanteau of back + acronym), such as

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

understood as "Fix It Again Tomorrow" *

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

: the first name published for a biological taxon (species, genus, etc.), which remains the defining name for the taxon even when the taxon has been transferred to a new name * caconym: a bad name, either from poor formation (as through mixing Greek and Latin) or unpleasantness (as through lengthiness or cacophony) *

capitonym A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized; the capitalization usually applies due to one form being a proper noun or eponym. It is a portmanteau of the word ''capital'' with the suffix ''-o ...

: a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized, such as March and march or Polish and polish. * charactonym: a name of a fictional character reflected in his personality traits, such as Shakespeare's

Pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

Bottom Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant * Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM * Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...

(compare with "aptronym") *

choronym Choronym (from gr, χώρα "region" or "country" and gr, ὄνομα "name") is a linguistic term that designates a proper name of an individual region or a country. The study of regional and country names is known as choronymy, or choronymics. ...

: a proper name of a region or a country. * chrematonym: a proper name of a particular (unique) object, natural or artificially made. For example:

Hope Diamond The Hope Diamond is a diamond originally extracted in the 17th century from the Kollur Mine in Guntur, India. It is blue in color due to trace amounts of boron. Its exceptional size has revealed new information about the formation of diamonds. ...

(proper name of a famous diamond), Bayeux Tapestry (proper name of a famous tapestry), or

Wanamaker Organ The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States of America) is the largest fully-functioning pipe organ in the world, based on the number of playing pipes, the number of ranks and its weight. (The Boardwalk H ...

(proper name of a famous musical instrument). *

chresonym In biodiversity informatics, a chresonym is the cited use of a taxon name, usually a species name, within a publication. The term is derived from the Greek χρῆσις ''chresis'' meaning "a use" and refers to published usage of a name. The tech ...

: Biol. use of a taxonomic name; historically sometimes referred to as a synonym. Sometimes divided into orthochresonyms (correct usages) and heterochresonyms (names incorrectly applied). * chrononym: a proper name of a time period, like the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, or the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. * cometonym: a proper name of a comet. * comonym: a name of a village. * cosmonym: a proper name of a

cosmic Cosmic commonly refers to: * The cosmos, a concept of the universe Cosmic may also refer to: Media * ''Cosmic'' (album), an album by Bazzi * Afro/Cosmic music * "Cosmic", a song by Kylie Minogue from the album '' X'' * CosM.i.C, a member of ...

feature, outside Earth. *

contronym An auto-antonym or autantonym, also called a contronym or antagonym among other terms, is a word with multiple meanings (word sense, senses) of which one is the reverse of another. For example, the word ''wikt:cleave, cleave'' can mean "to cut ap ...

or antagonym or autoantonym: a word that may have opposite meanings in different contexts, such as ''cleave'' meaning ''"stick together"'' or ''"split apart"'' *

cryptonym A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a Code word (figure of speech), code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may ...

: a

code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

; a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word *

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

: a name, derived from a place name, for residents of that place (e.g., ''Utahn'', from Utah, or ''Sioux Cityan'', from Sioux City) — coined by George H. Scheetz, according to Paul Dickson in ''What Do You Call a Person From...? A Dictionary of Resident Names''. The term first appeared in print in 1988 in ''Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon'' by George H. Scheetz. See also

taxonym The suffix ''-onym'' (from grc, ὄνυμα / name) is a bound morpheme, that is attached to the end of a root word, thus forming a new compound word that designates a particular ''class'' of names. In linguistic terminology, compound words that ...

. * dromonym: a name of a road or any other communication or transport route by land, water or air. * drymonym: a proper name of a wood or forest. * ecclesionym: a name of a church. * endochoronym: a choronym (regional or country name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native population as a designation for their region or country. * endoethnonym: an ethnonym of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by an ethnic group as a self-designation (see also: autoethnonym). * endolinguonym: a linguonym (language name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native speakers as a designation for their language (see also: autolinguonym). *

: a self-assigned name by locals of a place, or a group of people; formerly also known as ''

'', but that term is

polysemic Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, a morpheme, a word, or a phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word has a single ...

(not to be confused with the

in botany). * endotoponym: a type of

(place name) of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native population as a designation for some toponymic feature in their homeland. *

: a botanical, zoological, artwork, or place name that derives from a real or legendary person; a name for a real or hypothetical person from whom a botanical, geographical, artwork or zoological name is derived; a person after whom a

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

condition is named, or the condition so named. A type of taxonym. * ergonym: a name of an incorporated work-oriented entity, like a workshop, company or any firm in general. * ethnochoronym: a choronym derived from an ethnonym. * ethnohydronym: a hydronym that is formed from an ethnonym. *

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

: a name of an ethnic group. * ethnotoponym: a type of

that is formed from an ethnonym. * exochoronym: a choronym (regional or country name) of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who don't belong to the native population of a referred territory. * exoethnonym: an ethnonym of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used as a designation for an ethnic group by those who do not belong to it. * exolinguonym: a linguonym (language name) of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who are not native speakers of that language. *

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

: a name used by one group of people for another group, but who call themselves by a different name, such as "Germans" for "Deutsche"; a place name used by one group that differs from the name used by the people who live there, such as "

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

" for "''Köln''". * exotoponym: a type of

(place name) of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who don't belong to the native population of a region in which the referred toponymic feature is located. * gamonym: a name bestowed as a consequence of marriage. Judy Jones married Count Stephen Smith: her gamonyms include Mrs. Stephen Smith, Judy Smith, and Countess Smith. *

geonym {{Short pages monitor