The suffix –onym, in English, means "word, name," and words ending in –onym refer to a specified kind of name or word, most of which are classical compounds. For example, an acronym is a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term (as radar). The use of -onym words provides a means of classifying, often to a fine degree of resolution, sets of nouns with common attributes.
In som...
more
The suffix –onym, in English, means "word, name," and words ending in –onym refer to a specified kind of name or word, most of which are classical compounds. For example, an acronym is a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term (as radar). The use of -onym words provides a means of classifying, often to a fine degree of resolution, sets of nouns with common attributes.
In some words, the -onym form has been modified by replacing (or dropping) the "o." In the examples ananym and metanym, the correct forms (anonym and metonym) were pre-occupied by other meanings. Other, late 20th century examples, such as hypernym and characternym, are typically incorrectly formed neologisms for which there are more traditional words formed in -onym (hyperonym and charactonym).
The English suffix -onym is from the Greek suffix –ώνυμον [-ōnymon], neuter of -ώνυμος (-ōnymos), having a specified kind of name, from the Greek ονομα ...
less
