onomastics

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁nómn̥
2. Proto-Hellenic*ónomə
3. Ancient Greekὄνομᾰ (ónomă)
4. Ancient Greekὀνομάζω (onomázō)
5. Ancient Greekὀνομᾰστῐκός (onomăstĭkós)
6. Englishonomastic
7. English todayonomastics

First attested in 1936, from the adjective onomastic (“of or belonging to naming”) (1716) with a suffix -s, from French onomastique, from Ancient Greek ὀνομαστικός (onomastikós), from ὀνομαστός (onomastós, “named”), form of ὀνομάζω (onomázō, “I name”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”) (whence English name).

Words from the same roots