Word.ws English Dictionary

polynymy

polynymy noun: the use of names that are polynyms. Also the alternative form of polyonymy.

Noun

polynymy (uncountable)

  1. The use of names that are polynyms.
    • Such, at least, is the opinion of Dr. A. D. Macdonald (Medical Press and Circular), and he is certainly to be congratulated for giving us so rhythmical an addition to polynymy, as well as in attaching an actual anatomical disorder to a purely physiological centre.1889, George Frederick Shrady, Thomas Lathrop Stedman, Medical Record - Volume 36, page 578
    • Thus, in the sphere of form the correlation mononymy-polynymy applies to the structural unity of the word being not extended to the whole.1966, Centrul de Informare și Documentare în Științele Sociale și Politice, Romanian Scientific Abstracts - Volume 3, page 727

Also used as

polynymy is also the alternative form of polyonymy.

Origin of polynymy

From poly- + -nymy.

Questions about polynymy

What does polynymy mean?
Polynymy means the use of names that are polynyms.
What part of speech is polynymy?
Polynymy is a noun.

Words near polynymy in the dictionary

  1. polynyi
  2. polynym
  3. polynymous
  4. polynymously
  5. polynyms
  6. polynymy
  7. polyocracy
  8. polyoctenamer
  9. polyoctenamers
  10. polyodic
  11. polyodont

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: polynymy (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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