praenomen

Forms

praenōmen n (genitive praenōminis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + nōmen (“name”).^[2][3][1] The noun goes back to Proto-Italic *nōm-n- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃neh₃-mn, although the reconstruction of the root is disputed.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,^[4] and the TLL finds it from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero and Varro on.^[3] Varro explains that first names were set up for individual use, to tell apart the bearers of a family name.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It was the personal name that stood before the name of the gens, usually abbreviated: in the name Marcus Tullius Cicero the first name is Marcus.^[5] Cicero notes that a friend wrote to him familiarly without his first name,^[5] Livy mentions a son whose first name was Marcus,^[5][6] and Horace mocks soft ears that delight in being called by their first name.^[5] Festus says that women too were once called by first names, and a passage ascribed to Quintus Scaevola says that boys received a first name only when they put on the toga of manhood and girls only when they married.^[5] Suetonius uses it for the title Imperator placed before an emperor's name,^[2][5] and Varro in grammar for a noun that precedes another noun.^[2]

Medieval British writers used it for a title or a nickname; a grammar ascribed to Grosseteste says that it is given from an office, from a person's appearance or from an event.^[7] English borrowed it in 1706,^[8] and Italian has prenome from it.^[9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro explains the purpose of first names.^[3][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions a letter written to him without his first name.^[5][10]
• 65–8 BC – Horace mocks people pleased to be called by their first name.^[5][10]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it for the title Imperator.^[2][10]
• 1706 – English borrows praenomen.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ancient Rome) A first name, the personal name standing before the nōmen (as Marcus, Gaius, Lucius).^[2][5][9]
2. A title placed before a name, especially Imperator.^[2][5][6]
3. (grammar) A noun that precedes another noun.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A title or designation; a nickname.^[7]

Related words

• agnōmen
• cognōmen
• nōmen
• prōnōmen
• English praenomen

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de