mononym

Noun

mononym (plural mononyms)

1. A single name or term by which a person, thing, etc., is known.
   • The atlas and axis have special names, but most of the vertebra, like the ribs, are merely numbered ; among the arteries, the aorta only has a mononym ;1891, The Shipley collection of scientific papers - Volume 27
   • Briefly, the adoption of calcar is a logical corollary of the recommendation which is common to the reports of all four American committees, vi., "Other things being equal, it is recommended that mononyms be preferred to polynyms." Calcar avis is a polyonym ; calcar is a mononym. If it be said that...1898, Biological lectures delivered at the Marine Biological Laboratory of .Wood's Holl [sic].
2. A single term for a thing or concept, allowing for no synonyms.
   • ISO 704 and ISO 1087 prescribe mononymy as highly desirable for standardized terminologies, but as experience shows, individuals in developing disciplines (having unsettled terminology) are rarely able to agree on mononyms.1993, Richard Alan Strehlow, Sue Ellen Wright, Standardizing Terminology for Better Communication, →ISBN
   • After usage has created consensus on a mononym, it becomes possible to treat the accepted (preferred) forms in a terminographic glossary...1997, Knowledge Organization: KO. - Volume 24, page 14