Onym

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A linguistic element that serves to identify or denote a particular entity or concept in language
2. A word or group of words used to specify and categorize a person, place, or idea in communication
3. A linguistic unit used to designate a specific person, place, or concept

Etymology: Most English speakers would never guess that "onym" is a close relative of "synonym," "antonym," and "homonym." It is a back-formation: the older words were built on the Greek "onoma," meaning "name," and "onym" was later split off from them as a standalone term. "Onoma" also gave English "-onym" as a suffix, which is why it appears in so many words for kinds of names. The Greek root shows up in the English word "anonymous," which literally means "without a name," and in "pseudonym," a "false name." The "-onym" element was used productively in the 19th and 20th centuries, when scholars coined terms such as "eponym" and "acronym" from the same Greek base. Words built on "onym" are therefore formal coinages from classical roots, not terms that ancient Greeks used in this sense.