nome

Forms

nome m (plural nomes)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese also wrote nume, the form of the cantigas and of the Galician-Portuguese Foro Real.^[2][3] Houaiss lists the 14th-century spellings nõme (1346), nomee and numme.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nōmen (“name”), written Old Galician-Portuguese nome in the oldest texts.^[4][1][5] The same Latin word is Galician nome, Spanish nombre, Catalan nom, French nom, Italian nome and Romanian nume.^[6][7] Old Spanish had nomne and nompne.^[7]

The Latin noun is from *nōmn̥, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”).^[1] Wiktionary explains its long ⟨ō⟩ and the ⟨g⟩ of cognōmen by a false association with gnōscō (“to know”).^[1] De Vaan calls the reconstruction of the root disputed: an older *(H)nom- does not explain the long vowel of Latin and of the Germanic languages, and many scholars now posit a root with two laryngeals, which some connect with Hittite ḫanna- (“to judge”) and Ancient Greek ὄνομαι (ónomai, “to blame”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology gives the earliest vernacular record, en o nome de Deus “in the name of God”, in the testament of Afonso II of 1214, and in nome de deus in a document of 1260.^[2] The Crónica Troiana says that o primeyro fillo ouuo nome ector “the first son was named Hector”, and the Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of a minstrel de que seu nome era Pedro de Sigrar “whose name was Pedro de Sigrar”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The troubadours had aver nome “to be called” and poer nome “to give a name”.^[3] Houaiss dates the sense “reputation, good or bad name” to the 14th century.^[4] Barbosa paired the noun in 1611 with nomeada “renown” and recorded pór nome “to name”.^[9] Bluteau defined it in 1712 as a word fitted to a thing or person so that it may be known and told apart from another.^[10]

The grammatical sense “noun” came through Latin, where it is a semantic loan from ὄνομα (ónoma).^[1] Morais entered it first as a term of grammar in 1789.^[11] Today the word also names a person's first name or surname, a family or lineage, and a well-known person in some field.^[4] Nome feio is a swear word, and chamar nomes is to call someone names.^[12][1]

The word passed into the Portuguese-based creoles: nomi in Guinea-Bissau Creole, nómi in Kabuverdianu and Macanese.^[1]

Timeline

• 1214 – en o nome de Deus in the testament of Afonso II.^[2]
• 1260 – in nome de deus in a document.^[2]
• 13th century, second half – nome and nume in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and the profane cantigas.^[2][3]
• 1346 – the spelling nõme.^[4]
• 14th century – the sense “reputation”.^[4]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists nome, ou nomeada and pór nome.^[9]
• 1712 – Bluteau's definition.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais gives the grammatical sense “noun”.^[11]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Latin nomen.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A name: the word or words by which a class of things, a person, an animal or a place is known.^[4][1]
2. A person's first name, the one given at birth or baptism: O nome dela é Teresa.^[4][14]
3. A surname, the name of a family.^[4][15]
4. A family or lineage.^[4][16]
5. reputation, fame: ter bom nome.^[4][1]
6. A well-known person in a field: um grande nome da música.^[4][16]
7. (grammar) A noun; broadly, a noun or an adjective.^[4][1]
8. (in chamar nomes) An insult.^[1]

Word family

• nominho
• nomezinho
• sobrenome

Related words

• codinome
• cognome
• nomeação
• nomear
• nomenclatura
• nominal
• prenome
• renome
• Latin nōmen
• Galician nome
• Spanish nombre

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include em nome de “on behalf of; for the sake of”, nome de guerra “pseudonym” and sem nome “unspeakable, enormous”.^[4][17] Old Portuguese aver nome “to be called” is now obsolete.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. nome
3. ^ a b c Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. nome
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. nome
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. nome
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5949
7. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. nomen
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. nome
10. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. nome
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 117
12. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. nome
13. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 451
14. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. nome
15. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. nome
16. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6541
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. nome