Word.ws English Dictionary

bynames

bynames is the plural of byname.

Meaning of byname

Noun

byname (plural bynames)

  1. Synonym of epithet, a descriptive and distinguishing additional name.
    • Lions-heart, is... the by-name of K. Richard.1631, John Weever, Ancient Funerall Monuments..., page 644
    Synonyms:
    to-name, epithet
  2. (Germanic) A formal epithet for a god or goddess, used in rituals in Heathenry.
    Synonyms:
    to-name
  3. (Scotland, UK, dialectal) Synonym of pseudonym, a second name used to disguise authorship etc.
    Synonyms:
    to-name, pseudonym
  4. (archaic) Synonym of nickname, an informal personal name.
    Synonyms:
    to-name, nickname
  5. (archaic) Synonym of surname, a hereditary distinguishing additional name.
    • Some of these by-names... remained many years after to them, and theirs; amongst which Plantagenist was entailed on the Royal bloud of England.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-History of Britain..., page 30
    Synonyms:
    to-name, surname
  6. (archaic, historical) Synonym of cognomen, a personal or hereditary additional name in ancient Roman contexts.
    • Eutropius... gives him the additional name of Crinitus, perhaps a by-name of his family.1865, Charles Merivale, History of the Romans under the Empire, volume VIII, page 16
    Synonyms:
    to-name, cognomen

See all 7 meanings of byname

Questions about bynames

What is bynames the plural of?
Bynames is the plural of byname.

Words near bynames in the dictionary

  1. bymovirus
  2. bymoviruses
  3. BYMs
  4. byname
  5. bynamed
  6. bynames
  7. bynaming
  8. Bynarowicz
  9. Bynea
  10. bynedestin
  11. bynempt

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bynames (page history and authors); byname (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “bynames.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bynames. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.