Etymologically
Log in

nomenclature

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 20:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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)