praenomen

American  

[pree-noh-muhn] / priˈnoʊ mən /

Or prenomen

noun

plural

praenomina, praenomens

1. the first or personal name of a Roman citizen, as “Gaius” in “Gaius Julius Caesar.”

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praenomen British  

/ priːˈnəʊmɛn, priːˈnɒmɪnəl /

noun

1. an ancient Roman's first or given name See also agnomen cognomen nomen

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Other Word Forms

• praenominal adjective
• praenominally adverb

Etymology

Origin of praenomen

1655–65; < Latin praenōmen, equivalent to prae- prae- + nōmen name

Example Sentences

The name by which the poet designates himself is Propertius simply; the praenomen Sextus rests on the authority of Donatus.

From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by Middleton, George

But the praenomen is wanting in the original, and the inscription may have been erected not by the satirist but by one of his kinsfolk.

From Post-Augustan Poetry From Seneca to Juvenal by Butler, Harold Edgeworth

Hardy also states that Decimus is a common praenomen of the plebeian gens Iunia, and suggests that Juvenal may have got his praenomen from them.

From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by Middleton, George

His person more than justified his praenomen, for Mr. Harper Freeman, Jr., was undeniably fat.

From Corporal Cameron of the North West Mounted Police; a tale of the Macleod trail by Connor, Ralph

Significant in this respect was his revival of the praenomen imperator, which had been neglected by the successors of Augustus.

From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly