Mononymy
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Standardization of terms so that each entity has only one name. uncountable
"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."
- 2 The use of one-word names. uncountable
"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."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From mono- + -onymy.
More for "mononymy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.