Mononym

//ˈmɒnə(ʊ)nɪm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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 ;"

  2. 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."

Synonyms

All synonyms
monomialmonomialmononommononommononomialmononomial

Example

More examples

"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 ;"

Etymology

From mono- (“one”) + -onym (“word, name”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.