ὀνομαστική

Forms

ὀνομᾰστῐκή (onomastikḗ) f (genitive ὀνομᾰστῐκῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of the adjective from Ancient Greek ὀνομαστικός (onomastikós, “of naming”) used as a noun, with a feminine noun understood: τέχνη (tékhnē, “art”) in Plato, πτῶσις (ptôsis, “case”) in the grammarians.^[2][1][3] The adjective belongs to the family of ὀνομάζω (onomázō, “to name”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plato's Cratylus speaks of the art of naming, and then calls it by the feminine alone.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The grammatical sense, “the nominative case”, short for ἡ ὀνομαστικὴ πτῶσις, the “naming case”, appears in Dionysius Thrax's grammar and in Strabo, and Apollonius Dyscolus uses the plural.^[2][5][4][1] Latin translated the term as Latin nōminātīvus, a calque.^[1]

Modern Greek ονομαστική (onomastikí) is a learned word for the case of the subject.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Cratylus uses it for the art of naming.^[2][5][9]
• 2nd–1st century BC – Dionysius Thrax uses it for the nominative case.^[2][5][9]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo uses it for the nominative.^[2][5][9]
• 2nd century AD – Apollonius Dyscolus uses the plural, “nominatives”.^[2][9]
• Modern Greek – The learned ονομαστική (onomastikí) is the grammatical term for the nominative.^[7][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The art of naming (with τέχνη (tékhnē) understood).^[2][3][6]
2. (grammar) The nominative case (with πτῶσις (ptôsis) understood).^[2][1][3]

Related words

• ὀνομαστικός (onomastikós)
• ὄνομα (ónoma)
• ὀνομάζω (onomázō)
• Latin nōminātīvus
• Modern Greek ονομαστική (onomastikí)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge