cognomen

American  

[kog-noh-muhn] / kɒgˈnoʊ mən /

noun

cognomens, plural cognomina plural

1. a surname.

2. any name, especially a nickname.

3. the third and commonly the last name of a citizen of ancient Rome, indicating the person's house or family, as “Caesar” in “Gaius Julius Caesar.”

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cognomen British  

/ kɒɡˈnəʊmɛn, -ˈnəʊ-, kɒɡˈnɒmɪnəl /

noun

1. (originally) an ancient Roman's third name or nickname, which later became his family name See also agnomen nomen praenomen

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cognominal
  adjective
• cognominally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

noun

• cognomina
  plural
• cognomens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cognomen

1800–10; < Latin, equivalent to co- co- + nōmen name, with -g- on model of nōscī: cognōscī; see cognition

Example Sentences

The Nomen was indicative of the branch of the family distinguished by the Cognomen; while the Prenomen was invented to distinguish one from the rest.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 2 by Disraeli, Isaac

The Cognomen was put last, and marked the familia; as Cicero, Caesar, etc.

From The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume 03: Tiberius by Suetonius Tranquillus, Gaius

My Appellation, or pro Nomen, as the Latins term it, is call'd Jeremie; but my Cognomen, in our Mother Tongue, is call'd Sancho.

From The Stolen Heiress or, The Salamanca Doctor Outplotted by Centlivre, Susanna

Cognomen, kog-nō′men, n. a surname: a nickname: a name: the last of the three names of an individual among the Romans, indicating the house or family to which he belonged.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various