cognomen

American  

[kog-noh-muhn] / kɒgˈnoʊ mən /

noun

plural

cognomens, cognomina

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

• cognominal
  adjective
• cognominally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of cognomen

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

Example Sentences

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

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

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

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