mononymy

Noun

mononymy (uncountable)

1. Standardization of terms so that each entity has only one name.
   • 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
   • As for mononymy, in the context of standardization, the notion that a concept ought to have only one designation seemed both reasonable and desirable.1997, Knowledge Organization - Volumes 24-25, page 10
2. The use of one-word names.
   • This new system, mononymy, would classify animals by means of a one-word taxon representing both genus and species in lieu of the binary system of two words, one for genus and the other for species.1960, Carl John Drake, Collected papers - Volume 3, page 7
   • Bailey even states that "we should have gained much in simplicity of literature, in clarity and in popular usage, if we had had a mononymy or other arrangement instead of a taxonomic dionymy."1940 May, Earl Edward Sherff, “The concept of the genus: IV. The delimitations of genera from the conservative point of view”, in Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, volume 67, number 5