Pseudonyms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Fictitious names that writers use instead of their real names
2. Names adopted by authors to conceal their true identity when publishing
3. False names chosen by writers to mask their real name in their works

Etymology: Pseudonyms are named for a Greek word meaning "false name," and the Greeks built it from two ordinary parts. "Pseudḗs" meant "false," and "ónoma" meant "name," which the adjective "pseudṓnumos" (literally "false-named") combined with a suffix. The Romans took that adjective as "pseudonymus," and it passed into English through French and Latin routes that left the word meaning exactly what it said. The French noun "pseudonyme," meaning a fictitious name, appeared in 1834, and English probably took the word from there. The Latin adjective was used as well, and English later formed "pseudonymous" from it. The noun "pseudonym" was then created in English by a back-formation, a process that shortens a word by removing a supposed suffix. Speakers saw "pseudonymous" and cut off the ending "-ous" to make a new noun.

Synonyms: aliases, pen names