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nomenclature

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nə(ʊ)ˈmɛŋ.klət͡ʃə/, /-ˈmɛn-/ (UK); /ˈnoʊmənˌkleɪt͡ʃɚ/, /ˌnoʊmənˈkleɪt͡ʃɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French nomenclature or directly borrowed from Latin nōmenclātūra (“a calling by name; list of names”),[2][3][4][5] from nōmenclātor (“one who names”),[4][2][3][6] from nōmen (“name”) and calāre (“to call out”).[2][3][5][6] The roots are Proto-Indo-European *no-men- (“name”) and Proto-Indo-European *kele- (“to shout”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A name or designation (1610 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster; about 1600 in Etymonline), a sense now rare.[7][2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Rome a nomenclator was a slave or steward who announced visitors, and also one who prompted a politician with the names of the people he met.[3] The English word was used for the act of naming (1622), a list or catalogue of names (1635) and a glossary or vocabulary (1659).[7] From 1664 it meant a set of names used by a person or community,[7][2] and since 1789 the terminology of a science.[7] In biology it is the system of standardized New Latin names for kinds and groups of plants and animals.[5][4]

Timeline

  • 1610 – a name, designation.[7][2][5]
  • 1635 – a list or register of names.[7]
  • 1664 – a set of names.[7][2]
  • 1789 – the terminology of a science.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A system or set of names or terms used in a particular science, art or activity; terminology.
  2. The assigning of names to the kinds and groups of organisms in a taxonomic classification.
  3. (rare) A name or designation.

Word family

  • nomenclatural
  • binomial nomenclature
  • nomenclator
  • name
  • noun
  • council
  • binomial

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press