Word of the Day

: June 12, 2010

polyonymous

adjective pah-lee-AH-nuh-mus

What It Means

: having or known by various names

polyonymous in Context

Common epithets of Shiva, the polyonymous Hindu god of destruction and regeneration, are Shambhu, Shankara, Mahadeva, and Mahesha.

Did You Know?

"Polyonymous" comes to us from Greek. The "poly-" part means "many," and the "-onymous" part derives from the Greek word "onoma" or "onyma," meaning "name" -- so a reasonable translation of "polyonymous" is, in fact, "having many names." There are a number of other descendants of "onoma" or "onyma" in English, including "anonymous" ("having no name"), "pseudonym" ("false name"), "eponym" (someone who lends their name to something, or a word that comes from someone’s name), and "patronymic" (a name taken from one's father). Even "name" itself is derived from the same ancient word that gave rise to Greek "onyma," making it a distant cousin of all these name-related words.