name

See also: Name, NAmE, Nâme, namé, nàme, ñame, näme, and .name

English

WOTD – 6 May 2006

Etymology 1

From Middle English name, nome, from Old English nama, noma (“name; noun; the particular word used to denote any object of thought not considered in a purely individual character; title; reputation; the reputation of some character or attribute; the mere appellation in contrast or opposition to the actual person or thing”), from Proto-Germanic *namô (“name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”). Cognate with Scots name, naim, nem (“name”), North Frisian Neem, Naam, nööm, noome (“name”), Saterland Frisian Noome (“name”), West Frisian namme (“name”), Dutch naam (“name”), Low German Name (“name”), German Name (“name”), Danish navn (“name”), Norwegian Bokmål navn (“name”), Norwegian Nynorsk namn (“name”), Swedish namn (“name”), Icelandic nafn (“name”), Latin nōmen (“name”). Doublet of noun. See also neven.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: nām, IPA(key): /neɪm/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪm

Noun

name (plural names)

  1. Any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular person, place, class, or thing.
    • Bible, Genesis ii. 19
      Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
    • Shakespeare
      That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.
    • 1904, L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz:
      So good a man as this must surely have a name.
    • 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:
      Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
    I've never liked the name my parents gave me so I changed it at the age of twenty.
  2. Reputation.
    • 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, III-iii:
      Good name in man and woman, dear my lord / Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
    • 1952, Old Testament, Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 2 Samuel 8:13:
      And David won a name for himself.
  3. An abusive or insulting epithet.
    Stop calling me names!
  4. A person (or legal person).
    • Dryden
      They list with women each degenerate name.
    • p. 2002, second edition of, 2002, Graham Richards, Putting Psychology in its Place, →ISBN, page 287 :
      Later British psychologists interested in this topic include such major names as Cyril Burt, William McDougall, […] .
    • 2008 edition of, 1998, S. B. Budhiraja and M. B. Athreya, Cases in Strategic Management, →ISBN page 79 :
      Would it be able to fight the competition from ITC Agro Tech and Liptons who were ready and able to commit large resources? With such big names as competitors, would this business be viable for Marico?
    • 2009 third edition of, 1998, Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt, Tourism and Sustainability, →ISBN, page 29 :
      International non-governmental organisations (INGOs), including such household names as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and […] .
  5. Those of a certain name; a race; a family.
    • Macaulay
      The ministers of the republic, mortal enemies of his name, came every day to pay their feigned civilities.
  6. (computing) A unique identifier, generally a string of characters.
  7. (Britain, finance) An investor in Lloyds of London bearing unlimited liability.
  8. Authority.
    Halt in the name of the law!
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
References

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To give a name to.
    • 1904: L. Frank Baum, The Land of Oz — I will name the fellow 'Jack Pumpkinhead!'
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.
  2. (transitive) To mention, specify.
    He named his demands.
    You name it!
  3. (transitive) To identify as relevant or important
    naming the problem
  4. (transitive) To publicly implicate.
    The painter was named as an accomplice.
  5. (transitive) To designate for a role.
    My neighbor was named to the steering committee.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

See also

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish ñame, substituting n for the unfamiliar Spanish letter ñ.

Noun

name (plural names)

  1. Any of several types of true yam (Dioscorea) used in Caribbean Spanish cooking.
Synonyms
Translations

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Noun

name

  1. plural of naam

Central Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit नामन् (nāman).

Noun

name

  1. name

References

Cimbrian

Noun

name ? (plural [please provide])

  1. (Thirteen Communities) name

References

  • Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)

Verb

name

  1. (archaic) singular past subjunctive of nemen

Anagrams

Eastern Arrernte

Noun

name

  1. grass

References

Japanese

Romanization

name

  1. Rōmaji transcription of なめ

Kurdish

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian نامه‎ (name).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnɑːmɛ/

Noun

name f

  1. letter (a document)

Lithuanian

Noun

name m

  1. locative singular of namas
  2. vocative singular of namas

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch namo, from Proto-Germanic *namô.

Noun

nāme m, f

  1. name
  2. fame, reputation
Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *nāma, from Proto-Germanic *nēmō.

Noun

nâme f

  1. taking
  2. receiving
Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants
  • Dutch: name (mostly in compounds)

Further reading

  • “name”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “name (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929
  • “name (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English nama.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /naːm(ə)/

Noun

name (plural names or namen)

  1. name

Descendants

Volapük

Noun

name

  1. dative singular of nam

Zazaki

Etymology

Compare Middle Persian 𐫗𐫀𐫖‎ (nʾm /nām/).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɔːme/

Noun

name (nam) ?

  1. name
  2. reputation
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