English
pseudonym
Pseudonym comes from French pseudonyme ‘pseudonymous’, from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος ‘under a false name, falsely called’, and ultimately from Hittite ḫannaⁱ- ‘to sue, judge’.
- Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration‘to sue, judge’
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥‘name’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ónomə‘name’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄνομαónoma‘name’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEψευδήςpseudḗs‘false’dialectal form of ὄνομα
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEψευδώνυμοςpseudṓnumos‘under a false name, falsely called’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpseudonyme‘pseudonymous’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1911pseudonym
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration‘to sue, judge’
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥‘name’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ónomə‘name’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄνομαónoma‘name’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEψευδήςpseudḗs‘false’dialectal form of ὄνομα
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEψευδώνυμοςpseudṓnumos‘under a false name, falsely called’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpseudonyme‘pseudonymous’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1911pseudonym
Earliest quotation: c. 1911, H. G. Wells: “I doubt, indeed, whether I should not abandon the…”
Equivalent to pseudo- + -onym
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ ‘name’
name, nomination, noun, nominal, nominate, allocate, renown, misnomer, nominative, ignominious, ignominy, 31 more
through Ancient Greek ὄνομα ‘name’
Today it means
noun A fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie stars.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Hittite ḫannaⁱ- / pseudonym