surname
Etymology
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Etymology
From Middle English surname, a partial calque of Old French surnum, surnoun ("surname; nickname") (whence Middle English surnoun), from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen, from super- ("over, above, beyond") and nōmen, equivalent to sur- + name.
Pronunciation Nounsurname (plural surnames)
- The portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s).
- Synonyms: Thesaurus:surname
- James is my first name, and Smith is my surname.
- 1605, William Camden, Remaines, I 32:
- In late yeeres Surnames have beene given for Christian names among vs, and no where else in Christendom.
- 1876, E. A. Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest, V xxv 563:
- The Norman Conquest...brought with it the novelty of family nomenclature, that is to say, the use of hereditary surnames.
- (obsolete) Synonym of epithet, an additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC ↗, Acts j:[23]:
- Barsabas (whose syrname was Iustus).
- 1590, Richard Harvey, Plaine Percevall the peace-maker of England, Sweetly indeuoring with his blunt persuasions to botch vp a reconciliation between Mar-ton and Mar-tother, B3:
- My sirname is Peace-Maker, one that is but poorely regarded in England.
- c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene iii], line 171:
- To his sur-name Coriolanus longs more pride
Then pitty to our Prayers.
- (obsolete) Synonym of nickname, an additional name given to a person, place, or thing, a byname.
- 1638, Abraham Cowley, Davideis, section IV:
- I have before declared that Baal was the Sun, and Baal Peor, a sirname, from a particular place of his worship.
- (Classical studies) The cognomen of Roman names.
(Scottish, obsolete) A clan.
- French: nom, patronyme, nom de famille
- German: Nachname, Familienname
- Italian: cognome
- Portuguese: apelido (Portugal, means "nickname" in Brazil), sobrenome, nome de família, último nome (when appearing last)
- Russian: фами́лия
- Spanish: apellido
surname (surnames, present participle surnaming; simple past and past participle surnamed)
- (transitive) To give a surname to.
- (transitive) To call by a surname.
- 1905, Howard Pyle, “The Story of Launcelot”, in The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 66 ↗:
- “Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed ‘He of the Lake.’”
- Spanish: apodo
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
