professionym
UK/pɹəˈfɛʃ.ənɪm/
professionym noun: a term, title, or form of address used to designate or identify a person or group by their profession.
Noun
professionym (plural professionyms)
- A term, title, or form of address used to designate or identify a person or group by their profession.
- In the Slavic languages, the transition from a professionym to a hereditary surname occurred over several centuries, as the title identifying the father's trade became the fixed identifier for the entire family.2007, Zofia Kaleta, The Surname as a Cultural Value and an Ethnic Heritage, Polish Academy of Sciences, →ISBN, page 73
- A surname or proper name derived from the occupation of the initial bearer; an occupational surname.
- The third largest group of surnames is formed by professionyms (e.g. Kovář ‘smith’, Kolář ‘wheeler’, Mlynář ‘miller’), which make up about 12% of the total number of surnames.2016, Carole Hough, Daria Izdebska, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 114
Synonyms of professionym
Forms of professionym
| plural | professionyms |
|---|
Origin of professionym
From profession + -onym, from ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”).
Questions about professionym
- What does professionym mean?
- Professionym means a term, title, or form of address used to designate or identify a person or group by their profession.
- What part of speech is professionym?
- Professionym is a noun.
- How do you pronounce professionym?
- Professionym is pronounced /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ənɪm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of professionym?
- The plural of professionym is professionyms.
Words near professionym in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: professionym (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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