This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
nemophilist
spindrift
mononymous
noctivagant
betweenity

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(muh-NON-uh-muhs)

MEANING:

adjective: Having or known by a name consisting of only one word.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek mono- (one) + -nym (name). Earliest documented use: 1852.

NOTES:

In the olden times, a person had only one name. Why would you need more than one anyway? As numbers grew, we needed ways to distinguish ourselves.

Which Eric?
The one who lives in a red house: Eric Redhouse.
(As opposed to Eric Musicmaker. Or Eric Bignose.)

My theory is that in modern times the number of names one has is directly proportional to one’s wealth and sophistication. Paris Hilton’s new baby is named Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum. Meanwhile in Africa, each night mothers put children to bed with just one name.

I have only two names. Doing my part in an equitable distribution of names.

Are you mononymous? Write to us (no need to write if you are anonymous). Do you have multiple names? A long name? Tell us about your names below or email us at words@wordsmith.org.

PS: On a serious note, there’s no reason to insist that a person should have more than one name. On our website, web forms are designed to accept one name instead of the general tyrannical insistence on the web and in paper forms that one has to have two or more.

USAGE:

“The mononymous food critic Curnonsky, known as France’s Prince of Gastronomy.”
Katherine Mcgrath; People Places Things; The New York Times; Feb 16, 2023.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: