nom

Forms

nom m (plural noms)^[1] The DCVB records /nɔ́m/ with an open vowel.^[2] Coromines notes that this vowel is found almost throughout the language area except in the bishopric of Girona, where num prevails; it is old, already in Roig's Spill about 1460.^[3] A plural nòmens has been used, but very rarely.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan nom, inherited from Latin nōmen (“name”).^[3][4][5][1] Scholars have long discussed whether the Romance forms come from the accusative ⟨nomen⟩ or from ⟨*nomine⟩: in Coromines's view the Catalan word continues the first, as do the forms of France and Italy, while Spanish nombre continues the second.^[3] The DCVB derives the Catalan word from ⟨nomine⟩.^[2]

The same Latin word is Occitan nom, French nom, Italian nome, Portuguese nome and Romanian nume.^[6][1] The open vowel of the Catalan word, hard to explain from the Latin long vowel, is due according to Coromines to a sound change that affected a series of words; the REW notes open vowels in several Romance forms of the noun.^[3][6]

The Latin noun comes from Proto-Italic *nōmn̥ and Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”); its long vowel is due to association with gnōscō (“to know”).^[1] Its cognates include Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma) and Sanskrit नामन् (nā́man).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines and Bruguera find the word from the beginnings of the language, in the Homilies d'Organyà, which already have apellar per nom “to call by name” and haver nom “to be called”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Jaume I's chronicle nom also means a rumour or report: sol lo nom que hom diu que vós nos volets mal “the mere report that you wish us ill”.^[3] Haver nom “to be called” was very frequent in the Middle Ages (Desclot: un seu castell qui ha nom Pomar) and is still used in the Balearic Islands beside tenir nom.^[3][7] En nom de “on behalf of” is in Jaume I, en nom de Déu in 1330.^[3]

Llull already uses the grammatical sense, a noun as opposed to a verb, and the schools of Cervera taught it in 1442.^[3][7] The Catalan–Spanish Nebrija of 1507 has bon nom “good reputation”, nom de llinatge, nom propi and nom comú.^[3]

In Mallorca and Menorca the question Què ha nom? was reanalysed as a verb, giving nòmer “to be called”, which Forteza's grammar recorded in 1897.^[3] Nomenar is recorded in the Homilies, renom in the 14th century and sobrenom in the 15th;^[4] cognom (1360) is a learned word from Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• 12th century – apellar per nom and haver nom in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[3]
• 1283 – Desclot: un seu castell qui ha nom Pomar.^[7]
• 1325 – Muntaner uses nom for a nickname the knights gave themselves.^[7]
• 1330 – en nom de Déu.^[3]
• 1360 – first record of cognom.^[4]
• 1442 – the statutes of the school of Cervera use nom for the noun.^[7]
• c. 1460 – the open vowel in Roig's Spill.^[3]
• 1507 – the Catalan–Spanish Nebrija: nom propi, nom comú.^[3]
• 1897 – Forteza records the Mallorcan verb nòmer.^[3]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. name: the word or words by which a person or thing is known or called.^[9][5]
2. nom de fonts, nom de pila, nom de bateig: the first name given at baptism.^[9]
3. reputation, fame.^[2][7]
4. (grammar) A noun.^[2][1]
5. A password given and demanded by a sentry.^[2]
6. en nom de: in the name of, on behalf of.^[7][3]

Word family

• anomenar
• anomenada
• nomenar
• nomenament
• renom
• sobrenom
• malnom
• innomenable
• nòmer

Related words

• cognom
• nominal
• nominatiu
• pronom
• denominar
• Latin nōmen
• Occitan nom
• Spanish nombre

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. nom
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 952
4. ^ a b c d e Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 637
5. ^ a b Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. nom
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. nom
8. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. nom
9. ^ a b Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. nom