Etymology

pseudonym

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Today it means: A fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie stars. Full definition →

French pseudonyme ← Ancient Greek ψευδ- (pseud-) ← English pseudonymousbf.
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pseudonym · noun1

  1. Ancient Greekψεύδω (pseúdō)
  2. Ancient Greekψευδής (pseudḗs)
  3. Ancient Greekὄνῠμᾰ (ónŭmă)
  4. Ancient Greekψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos)
  5. Latinpseudōnymus
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  8. Englishpseudonymousbf.
  9. Ancient Greekψευδ- (pseud-)
  10. Frenchpseud-
  11. Frenchpseudonyme
  12. English todaypseudonym

Back-formation from pseudonymous, from Latin pseudonymus (adjective), from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos, adjective), from ψευδής (pseudḗs, “false”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, a dialectal form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”)) + -ος (-os, adjective-forming suffix). Alternatively, borrowed from French pseudonyme (“fictitious name”, noun), coined in 1834 from pseud- + -onyme (noun-forming suffix). By surface analysis, pseudo- + -onym (noun-forming suffix).

pseudonym · adjective2

  1. Ancient Greekψεύδω (pseúdō)
  2. Ancient Greekψευδής (pseudḗs)
  3. Ancient Greekὄνῠμᾰ (ónŭmă)
  4. Ancient Greekψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos)
  5. Latinpseudōnymu
  6. Frenchpseudonyme
  7. English todaypseudonym

Borrowed from French pseudonyme (“pseudonymous”, adjective), from Latin pseudonymus (adjective), from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos, adjective). By surface analysis, pseudo- + -onym.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.