onomastics

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The Word of the Day for July 16 is:

onomastics   \ah-nuh-MAS-tiks\   noun
     1 a : the science or study of the origins and forms of words especially as 
used in a specialized field  b : the science or study of the origin and forms 
of proper names of persons or places
    *2 : the system underlying the formation and use of words especially for 
proper names or of words used in a specialized field

Example sentence:
     Dr. Donn will be presenting a paper at the conference on the onomastics 
used in naming towns during the early Republic.

Did you know?
     The original word for the science of naming was "onomatology," which was 
adopted from French in the mid-19th century. About a century later, however, 
people began referring to the science as "onomastics," a term based on the 
Greek verb "onomazein" ("to name"). Like many sciences, onomastics is itself 
composed of special divisions. An onomastician might, for example, study 
personal names or place names, names of a specific region or historical period, 
or even the character names of a particular author, like Charles Dickens.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 






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