surname
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English surname, a partial calque of Old French surnum, surnoun (“surname; nickname”) (whence Middle English surnoun), from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen (“surname”), from super- (“over, above, beyond”) and nōmen (“name”).[1].
PronunciationEdit
- (US) enPR: sûrʹnām'; IPA(key): /ˈsɝˌneɪm/
Audio (US) (file)
- (UK) enPR: sûʹnām'; IPA(key): /ˈsɜːˌneɪm/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)neɪm
NounEdit
surname (plural surnames)
- (obsolete) An additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement; an epithet.
- 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:
- (obsolete) An additional name given to a person, place, or thing; a byname or nickname.
- 1638, Abraham Cowley, Davideis, IV:
- I have before declared that Baal was the Sun, and Baal Peor, a sirname, from a particular place of his worship.
- 1638, Abraham Cowley, Davideis, IV:
- The name a person shares with other members of that person's family, distinguished from that person's given name or names; a family name.
- 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.
- (Classical studies) The cognomen of Roman names.
- (Scotland, obsolete) A clan.
Usage notesEdit
The term "surname" may be used to translate terms from non-English names which carry additional shades of meaning, most notably in the case of Roman cognomens. In fact, the nomen was the surname as the word is commonly understood today but the terms were first applied when surname was still used in the sense of "additional" or "added" name: the cognomen was added to the nomen to show the branch of the family involved. (The modern translation of a similar distinction in ancient Chinese names customarily uses ancestral name and clan name instead and typically speaks of surnames only once the two merged into a single and commonly-employed family name.)
SynonymsEdit
- epithet (additional descriptive name)
- nickname, sobriquet, byname (additional name)
- family name, last name, to-name (hereditary name denoting one's family)
- See also Thesaurus:surname
HypernymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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VerbEdit
surname (third-person singular simple present 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[1], New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 66:
- “Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed ‘He of the Lake.’”
TranslationsEdit
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See alsoEdit
- adoption name
- bride’s name
- Christian name
- cognomen
- confirmation name
- family name
- first name
- forename
- given name
- last name
- maiden name
- matronym
- middle name
- nickname
- patronym
- personal name
- Wikipedia article on name changes
- Wiktionary appendix of surnames
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "surnoun, n."
AnagramsEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Partial calque of Old French surnoun, from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen; equivalent to sur- + name. Forms beginning with sir-, syr-, etc. represent reanalysis of the first element as sire.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
surname (plural surnames)
- epithet, nickname
- surname, family name
- 1393, William Langland, Piers Plowman, C iv 369:
- Þat is noȝt reisonable...to refusy my syres sorname.
- 1393, William Langland, Piers Plowman, C iv 369:
- alias, appellation
- c. 1395, Wycliff's Bible, Ecclus. XLVII 19:
- In the name of the Lord, to whom the surname [toname in the 1382 ed.] is God of Israel.
- c. 1395, Wycliff's Bible, Ecclus. XLVII 19:
DescendantsEdit
- English: surname
ReferencesEdit
- “surnāme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.