Word.ws English Dictionary

first-name

first-name verb: to address (someone) by first name.

Verb

first-name (third-person singular simple present first-names, present participle first-naming, simple past and past participle first-named)

  1. (rare) To address (someone) by first name.
    • Physicians are first-named only by close family, friends, and colleagues in the United States. […] First-naming has extended itself to one group who formerly were sacrosanct: teachers and professors. […] Since it is, indeed, a privileged patient who first-names his or her physician, one cannot help...1982, Elaine Chaika, “Style of speech”, in Language: The Social Mirror, Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, sections 18 (Summons, greetings, address) and 21 (The United States, a...
    • Most adults are in the habit of addressing children, menial workers and the disadvantaged by their first names. […] As onerous as this arrogation may appear, it is not nearly as malignant as the present custom of first-naming women, minorities and the elderly, particularly if they happen to be ill....1983 September, Peter H[artley] Gott, “Forced Familiarity”, in Connecticut Medicine: The Journal of the Connecticut State Medical Society, volume 47, number 9, New Haven, Conn.: Connecticut State...
    Synonyms:
    Christian-name

Synonyms of first-name

Forms of first-name

third-person singular presentfirst-names
present participlefirst-naming
past participlefirst-named
pastfirst-named

Origin of first-name

Denominal verb of first name.

Phrases with first-name

Questions about first-name

What does first-name mean?
First-name means to address (someone) by first name.
What part of speech is first-name?
First-name is a verb.
What is the past tense of first-name?
The past tense of first-name is first-named.

Words near first-name in the dictionary

  1. first-ladyship
  2. first-ladyships
  3. first-line
  4. first-mover disadvantage
  5. first-mover disadvantages
  6. first-name
  7. first-named
  8. first-nameless
  9. first-names
  10. first-naming
  11. first-nighter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: first-name (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.

Last updated:

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