praenomen

See also: prænomen

English

Alternative forms

• prænomen, prenomen

Etymology

From Latin praenōmen, from prae- (“pre-: before”) + nōmen (“name, family name”).

Noun

praenomen (plural praenomens or praenomina)

1. (historical) An Ancient Roman given name.

   Julius Caesar's praenomen was Gaius.

2. (historical) The throne name of a pharaoh, the fourth of the five names of the royal titulary, traditionally encircled by a cartouche and preceded by the title nswt-bjtj.

   Tutankhamun's praenomen or throne name was Nebkheperrure, "Lord of the forms of Ra".

   • 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 121:

     The old explanation was that the Greeks applied the name [λαβύρινθος (labúrinthos)] to it [the Temple of Hawara] because the prenomen or "throne-name" of its builder, Amenemhat III., would have been pronounced *Nemarî^e, and, by a usual interchange of n with l, transliterated into Greek as Labaris or Lamaris.

3. (zoology) The genus name in a binomial scientific name.

   In the name Tyrannosaurus rex, "Tyrannosaurus" is the praenomen.

Hypernyms

• (Roman personal name): See given name

Coordinate terms

• (Roman personal name): nomen (family name), cognomen (epithet or clan name), agnomen (epithet)
• (Pharaonic name): serekh name, Two Ladies name, gold name, nomen (given name)

Related terms

• praenominal

Translations

ancient Roman first name

• Catalan: prenom (ca) m
• German: Pränomen (de) n
• Greek: προωνύμιο (el) n (proonýmio)

  Ancient Greek: προωνύμιον n (proōnúmion)

• Latin: praenōmen n
• Spanish: prenombre m

Latin

Etymology

prae- (“before”) +‎ nōmen (“name”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /prae̯ˈnoː.men/, [präe̯ˈnoːmɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /preˈno.men/, [preˈnɔːmen]

Noun

praenōmen n (genitive praenōminis); third declension

1. praenomen: An ancient Roman first name.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	praenōmen	praenōmina
Genitive	praenōminis	praenōminum
Dative	praenōminī	praenōminibus
Accusative	praenōmen	praenōmina
Ablative	praenōmine	praenōminibus
Vocative	praenōmen	praenōmina

Related terms

• agnōmen
• nōmen
• cognōmen

References

• “praenomen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “praenomen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• praenomen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “praenomen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “praenomen”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin