cognomen
Americannoun
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cognomens,
plural
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cognomina
plural
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a surname.
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any name, especially a nickname.
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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.”
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cognomen
1800–10; < Latin, equivalent to co- co- + nōmen name, with -g- on model of nōscī: cognōscī; see cognition
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And people have continued to find it risibly apposite ever since - especially in conjunction with the equally commonplace cognomen, Will.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2015
Retief Goosen - “Goose” Our second cognomen derived from a last name, which should rank it lower on the list.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2013
Its most evocative cognomen is The Porchcrawler—one unhyphenated word, with the crunch of consonants enhancing its cinematic imagery.
From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2012
It is an odd inversion of status for these masterful men, a class cognomen left over from the days when jockeys were servants of the sporting aristocracy.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Bill Club is a national organization, the sole requirement for membership having originally consisted in the possession of the cognomen "William" and the payment of a dollar bill.
From Abroad at Home American Ramblings, Observations, and Adventures of Julian Street by Julian Street
Without these air-inflated cognomens, Jim and Marion Jordan might now be back in Peoria.
From Time Magazine Archive
But as the evening advanced, we learned to distinguish them by a peculiarity of expression, which had gained for these amiable maidens the somewhat singular cognomens of Really!
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 425 Volume 17, New Series, February 21, 1852 by William Chambers
Ridiculous nicknames become attached—no one knows how—to the most dignified characters, and altogether usurp the places of the genuine cognomens.
From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various
Which they're that loose an' liable about churches an' cognomens!
From Wolfville Days by Alfred Henry Lewis
The colonel had given these men names to suit himself, and they were proud of their cognomens.
From Brother Against Brother The War on the Border by Oliver Optic
On the other hand, some aristocratic families used multiple cognomina to indicate their lineage; one inscription indicates that Q. Pompeius Senecio Sosius Priscus, ordinary consul in 169, had 38 names.
From Time ● Aug. 16, 2016
More certain yet is the likeness which shows in a list of 27 names, and all but one without cognomina.
From A Study of the Topography and Municipal History of Praeneste by Ralph Van Deman Magoffin
He therefore changed his praenomen to that of his adoptive father, and put his former nomen among his cognomina.
From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by George Middleton
The Romans had surnames, or cognomina, but the barbarians who won Europe from them had not.
From Stories That Words Tell Us by Elizabeth (Elizabeth Speakman) O'Neill
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