Etymology

matronymic

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Today it means: Of, relating to, or derived from the given name of one's mother. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ὄνυμα (ónuma) ← Latin māter ← Proto-Italic *mātēr
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*méh₂tēr
  2. Proto-Italic*mātēr
  3. Latinmāter
  4. Ancient Greekὄνυμα (ónuma)
  5. English todaymatronymic

From Latin māter (“mother”) + English -onym + -ic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.