misonomy

M3I1S1O1N1O1M3Y4

noun

The phenomenon of being misnamed.

Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounmisonomy (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe phenomenon of being misnamed.

    "All of this is an example of what Stephen Stigler, a contemporary historian of science, calls the law of misonomy, that nothing in mathematics is ever named after the person who discovered it.

    2001, David Salsburg, The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century, Henry Holt and Company, page 16

Origin

From mis- + -onomy.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

misonomy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misonomy

MLA

“misonomy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misonomy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misonomy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misonomy.

Source: misonomy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.