Etymologically
Log in

nomenclature

Etymology and origin of the French word nomenclature

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1559, Martin du Bellay
Borrowed from
Latin nomenclatura
Ultimate origin
Latin (nōmen,calō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin nomenclatura
English nomenclature
French nomenclature

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nɔ.mɑ̃.kla.tyʁ/[1]

Forms

nomenclature f (plural nomenclatures)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin nōmenclātūra (“a calling by name; list of names”),[2][3][4][5] from nōmenclātor, the slave who told his master the names of the people he met, formed from nōmen (“name”) and calō (“to call, proclaim”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Martin du Bellay's Dioscoride (1559) uses it for a list of the terms naming the objects of a study or collection;[2][3] the Grand Robert reads it as a list of goods liable to duty.[6] Bloch and Wartburg note an isolated earlier use in 1541.[4]

Semantic evolution

Furetière (1690) defines it as a list of the commonest words of a language, made for learners.[2][3] Before 1718 Fénelon used it for the whole set of terms of a science or art, and Duhamel du Monceau (1758) for the method of classifying and naming them;[2][3] the GLLF cites the nomenclature of Linnaeus.[7] In lexicography the Académie (1798) used it for the list of headwords of a dictionary.[2][3]

The Russian номенклатура (nomenklatura), the list of officials with special privileges in the Soviet system, came into French as nomenklatura about 1980, sometimes Frenchified as nomenclature.[3]

Timeline

  • 1541 – An isolated first use.[4]
  • 1559 – In Martin du Bellay's Dioscoride.[2]
  • 1690 – A word list for learners, in Furetière.[2]
  • Before 1718 – The terms of a science, in Fénelon.[2]
  • 1758 – A method of naming, in Duhamel du Monceau.[2]
  • 1798 – A dictionary's headwords, in the Académie.[2]
  • c. 1980 – Nomenklatura.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A nomenclature: the systematically classified terms of a science or art; the method of naming them: nomenclature binaire.[8][2]
  2. A detailed, ordered list, inventory: la nomenclature des douanes.[8][9]
  3. (lexicography) The list of headwords of a dictionary.[8][9]

Word family

  • nomenclateur

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 179a
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Nomenclature.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/nomenclature. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·