metronymic

American  

[mee-truh-nim-ik, me-] / ˌmi trəˈnɪm ɪk, ˌmɛ- /

Also matronymic

adjective

1. derived from the name of a mother or other female ancestor.

---

noun

1. a metronymic name.

metronymic British  

/ ˌmɛtrəˈnɪmɪk /

adjective

1. (of a name) derived from the name of its bearer's mother or another female ancestor

---

noun

1. a metronymic name

Etymology

Origin of metronymic

First recorded in 1865–70, metronymic is from the Greek word mētrōnymikós “named after one's mother”

Example Sentences

Her forehand was clean and metronymic, her backhand powerful and poised.

From The New Yorker • May 29, 2019

BPM ends inside the club, where the same metronymic beat that once attended the members of ACT UP Paris, many now dead, in their joy, now supports them in their grief.

From Slate • Mar. 14, 2018

The Iroquois Indians, among whom Morgan lived, were a typical maternal or metronymic people.

From Sociology and Modern Social Problems by Ellwood, Charles A. (Charles Abram)

Descent henceforth was reckoned in the paternal line, and society had become patronymic instead of metronymic.

From Society Its Origin and Development by Rowe, Henry Kalloch

Strictly speaking, therefore, there has never been a matriarchal stage of social evolution, but rather a maternal or metronymic stage.

From Sociology and Modern Social Problems by Ellwood, Charles A. (Charles Abram)

Related Words

• last name