English
onomasticon
Onomasticon may come from Ancient Greek ὀνομαστικόν.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομαστικόνonomastikónuncertain
- Englishtodayonomasticon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομαστικόνonomastikónuncertain
- Englishtodayonomasticon
The story
The term onomastikón (collection of names, from ὄνομα/ónoma, ‘name’) describes learned works that are not arranged alphabetically but juxtapose synonyms and terms relating to the same semantic field. This principle of ordering is very old (it was already known in Near Eastern culture in the 2nd millennium BC; Lists) and undoubtedly was the most common one up to the Augustan period.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ ‘name’
name, nomination, noun, allocate, nominal, nominate, renown, misnomer, nominative, ignominious, ignominy, 30 more
through Ancient Greek ὄνομα ‘name’
Today it means
noun A book, list, or vocabulary of names, especially of people.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ὀνομαστικόν / onomasticon