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Synonyms

onomastics

American  
[on-uh-mas-tiks] / ˌɒn əˈmæs tɪks /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

  1. the study of the origin, history, and use of proper names.

onomastics British  
/ ˌɒnəˈmæstɪks /

noun

  1. (functioning as singular) the study of proper names, esp of their origins

  2. (functioning as singular or plural) a systematization of the facts about how proper names are formed in a given language

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • onomastician noun

Etymology

Origin of onomastics

First recorded in 1930–35; see origin at onomastic, -ics

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.

But sociologists and experts in onomastics, the study of names, said the diminishment of nicknames is not exclusive to famous athletes.

From New York Times • May 10, 2011

We are as yet so imperfectly acquainted with the onomastics of the nations surrounding the Semites that it is hazardous to attempt to locate these people.

From Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters by Johns, C. H. W. (Claude Hermann Walter)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.