nomen

N1O1M3E1N1
UK/ˈnəʊmən/US/ˈnoʊmən/

noun

The family name of an Ancient Roman, designating their gens.

UncommonScrabble 7

Meanings

nounnomen (plural nomina or nomens)

plural nomina · plural nomens

  1. historicalThe family name of an Ancient Roman, designating their gens.

    Greeks and other provincials who gained Roman citizenship kept their Greek names as cognomens, to which they added Roman nomens and praenomens—usually those of the ones to whom they owed their citizenship.

    1990, Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians (Word Biblical Commentary; 41), Zondervan, →ISBN, page 2
    1 more example

    The Romans evolved a quite different system of nomenclature, which in its classical form consisted of three names, the praenomen (e.g. Marcus), nomen (e.g. Tullius), and cognomen (e.g. Cicero), and two other designations (the name of the father and of the tribe): […]

    1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xiv
  2. historicalThe birth name of a pharaoh, the fifth of the five names of the royal titulary, traditionally encircled by a cartouche and preceded by the title zꜣ-rꜥ.

    The following is a list of the prenomens and nomens of Egyptian kings which are of common occurrence, with transliterations into Roman letters.

    1906, E[rnest] A[lfred] Wallis Budge, Cook’s Handbook for Egypt and the Sûdân, 2nd edition, London: Tho[ma]s Cook & Son, […]; Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., page 189
    1 more example

    The adytum is unsculptured, but two monoliths within it bear the name of Physcon and Cleopatra; and in the front chamber of the naos is that of the Ethiopian king “Ashar (Atar)-Amun*, the everliving,” who in some of his nomens is called “the beloved of Isis.”

    1843, [John] Gardner Wilkinson, Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt; Including the Information Required for Travellers in That Country, volume II, London: John Murray, […], page 308
  3. A taxonomic name.
    1 more example

    Over the decades and centuries, Linnaeus’s binominal system reached ever greater prominence as a standard to categorize and stabilize organismal biology, and it became necessary to trace taxon names, so that duplication and confusion could be addressed or avoided. As a consequence, different areas of biology developed 'codes' of nomenclature, according to which the availability of such nomina could be governed.

    2023, Wolfgang Denzer, Hinrich Kaiser, “Naming And Gaming: The Illicit Taxonomic Practice Of 'Nomenclatural harvesting' And How To Avoid It”, in Journal of Zoology, volume 320, number 3, page 161

Synonyms & antonyms

Broader

Origin

  1. Latinnōmen“name”
  2. Englishnomen

From Latin nōmen (“name”), a clipping of nōmen gentīle (“family name”). Doublet of name and noun.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with nomen

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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