Meanings
plural idionyms
- anatomyA word that refers to one specific anatomical part.
In fact, this term, as coined and defined by me, is now an idionym, applicable to but a single part of the brain.
1896, The journal of comparative neurology, page 221 - A mononym.
Before 1066, each individual was identified by a single, distinctive name (an idionym). This contrasts very strongly with the present-day system of naming, which consists of at least two components, a ‘first-name’ plus a surname ‘denoting a patrilinear family group’.
1995, Ann Williams, The English and the Norman conquest, page 207 - datedbiologyA specific epithet; the name of a species.
Haworth's idionym “v-flava” has been changed to “v-flavum,” despite its acceptance, with explanation of derivation, by the Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge […]
1907, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, page 1014
Origin
Cite this entry
idionym. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idionym
“idionym.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idionym. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “idionym,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idionym.
Source: idionym on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.