nom de guerre

See also: nom-de-guerre

English

Examples
Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr) Vladimir Lenin (born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) Willy Brandt (born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm)

Alternative forms

• nom-de-guerre

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French nom de guerre (literally “war name”), referring to the pseudonyms used during wars.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌnɒm də ˈɡɛə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌnɑm də ˈɡɛɹ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

nom de guerre (plural noms de guerre)

1. (onomastics) A pseudonym, particularly one adopted by soldiers, revolutionaries, or resistance fighter.

   Synonym: pseudonym

   Hypernym: pseudonym

   • 2003 July 5, Michael Brick, “From Soup to Stickball, the 4th With a Twist”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:

     One of the participants in the contest – a publicity bonanza for a certain well-known hot doggery – was William Perry, the football player who scored a touchdown in the 1986 Super Bowl and was known by the nom de guerre “The Refrigerator.”

Related terms

• nom de clavier
• nom de course
• nom de plume
• nom de Web

Translations

pseudonym — see pseudonym

Further reading

• “nom de guerre”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “nom de guerre, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “nom de guerre”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

Literally, “name of war”, referring to the pseudonyms used during wars.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɔ̃ d(ə) ɡɛʁ/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

nom de guerre m (plural noms de guerre)

1. pseudonym used in wartime

   La Tulipe, Sans-Quartier, Va-de-bon-cœur, sont des noms de guerre du passé que des soldats prenaient en s’engageant.

   The Tulip, No-Quarter, Merry-Go, are wartime nicknames from the past taken by soldiers while enroling

2. (by extension) nom de guerre: pseudonym

   Synonyms: nom d'emprunt, pseudonyme

   Hyponyms: nom de code, nom de plume, nom de scène

Related terms

• nom de code
• nom de plume
• nom de scène
• nom d'emprunt

Descendants

• → English: nom de guerre

Further reading

• “guerre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012