cognomen

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cognōmen.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /kɒɡˈnoʊ.mən/
• Hyphenation: cog‧no‧men

Noun

cognomen (plural cognomens or cognomina)

1. Surname.
   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure‎^[1]:

     "Five hundred years or more afterwards, the family migrated to Rome under circumstances of which no trace remains, and here, probably with the idea of preserving the idea of vengeance which we find set out in the name of Tisisthenes, they appear to have pretty regularly assumed the cognomen of Vindex, or Avenger."

   • 2018 December 23, Dragons' Den:

     What's in a name? Well, to the Dragons, it would seem rather a lot, as they've tonight committed their cash to personalised products and to the man with the most famous cognomen in confectionery. I'll leave you to look that one up.

2. (historical, Ancient Rome) The third part of the name of a citizen of Ancient Rome.
   • 2007, David Potter, chapter 1, in The Emperors of Rome, page 36:

     Roman tradition suggests that he might also have had the cognomen Octavian to indicate his biological family.

3. A nickname or epithet by which someone is identified.

   Synonyms: byname, moniker, sobriquet

   • 1820, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, published 1864:

     In this by-place of nature, there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane; who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow […]. The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person.

Translations

surname

• Bulgarian: презиме n (prezime)
• German: Nachname (de) m
• Greek: επώνυμο (el) n (epónymo), επίθετο (el) n (epítheto)

• Latin: cōgnōmen n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etternavn (no) n, familienavn n, slektsnavn n

• Russian: фами́лия (ru) f (famílija)

the third part of the name of a citizen of ancient Rome

• German: Cognomen (de) n, Kognomen (de) n

• Greek: παρωνύμιο (el) n (paronýmio), επώνυμο (el) n (epónymo)

nickname

• Bulgarian: прякор (bg) m (prjakor)
• Greek: παρατσούκλι (el) n (paratsoúkli), παρανόμι (el) n (paranómi)
• Irish: forainm (ga) m

• Italian: cognome (it) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tilnavn n, kallenavn (no) n

• Spanish: cognomen (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} cognomine

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “cognomen”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• cognomen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Latin

Etymology

From con- (“together, with”) +‎ nōmen (“name”). The g is from false association with cognōscō (“recognize”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /koɡˈnoː.men/, [kɔŋˈnoːmɛn]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /koɲˈɲo.men/, [kɔɲˈɲɔːmɛn]

Noun

cognōmen n (genitive cognōminis); third declension

1. surname
2. third part of a formal name
3. an additional name derived from some characteristic

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cognōmen	cognōmina
Genitive	cognōminis	cognōminum
Dative	cognōminī	cognōminibus
Accusative	cognōmen	cognōmina
Ablative	cognōmine	cognōminibus
Vocative	cognōmen	cognōmina

Related terms

• agnōmen
• nōmen

Descendants

• Catalan: cognom
• English: cognomen
• French: cognomen
• Italian: cognome
  • → Cimbrian: konjåm

• Portuguese: cognome
• Romanian: cognomen
• Spanish: cognome

References

• cognomen in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cognomen in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cognomen in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• cognomen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• cognomen in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cognomen in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin