ὄνομα

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ó.no.ma/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈo.no.ma/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈo.no.ma/^[1]

Forms

ὄνομᾰ (ónoma) n (genitive ὀνόμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ónomə, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”).^[1] The details of the reconstruction are disputed; the Doric forms bear on whether its initial laryngeal was *h₁ or *h₃.^[2] It matches Old Armenian անուն (anun, “name”) directly.^[3] Aeolic and Doric have ὄνυμα (ónuma), and Laconian personal names such as Ἐνυμακρατίδας (Enumakratídas) may show a form with /e/, as in Albanian and Old Prussian.^[4][3] Epic οὔνομα (oúnoma) is a metrical lengthening.^[4]

Cognate with Latin nōmen (“name”), Sanskrit नामन् (nā́man, “name”), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namo, “name”), Old Church Slavonic имѧ (imę, “name”) and Old Irish ainm (“name”), which differ in their vowel grades.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for a person's name (Iliad 3.235) and once for the fame of a place: “the name of Ithaca has reached even to Troy” (Odyssey 13.248).^[5][6] In Odyssey 9.366 the name given is “Nobody”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek used it for every kind of name, of peoples and places as well as persons, and for reputation and renown (Theognis, Sophocles).^[7] Herodotus sets the mere name against the reality, and philosophers and orators used it for a word or a technical term.^[7] In grammar Plato and Aristotle used it for the noun, as opposed to ῥῆμα (rhêma) “verb”.^[4][3]

The New Testament uses it for proper names, as in “what is your name?” (Mark 5:9).^[8] Medieval Greek had όνομα and όνομαν, used also of the name of God or Christ.^[9] Modern Greek όνομα is a name, a noun, and fame.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a name and for fame.^[5]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it for a famous name.^[7][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus contrasts the name with the reality.^[7][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a noun as opposed to a verb.^[3][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for proper names.^[8]
• Modern Greek – όνομα means a name and a noun.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A name, of a person, god, people or place.^[6][7]
2. Name, reputation, fame.^[7][5]
3. A word or title; a term, technical term.^[7]
4. A mere name, as opposed to the reality; a pretext.^[7]
5. (grammar) A noun, as opposed to a verb.^[7][4]

Word family

• ἀνώνυμος (anṓnumos)
• ἐπώνυμος (epṓnumos)
• ὁμώνυμος (homṓnumos)
• συνώνυμος (sunṓnumos)
• ὀνομάζω (onomázō)
• ὀνομαίνω (onomaínō)
• μετωνυμία (metōnumíā)
• ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiíā)
• συνώνυμον (sunṓnumon)

Related words

• Latin nōmen
• English name

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
3. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge