onomaonyma

Onomaonyma is a term occasionally used in linguistics and onomastics to describe the relationship between names and the words that refer to things or concepts. The form combines Greek roots meaning name (onoma) and unit or name (onyma), and in practice the term is not consistently defined across sources. It is generally treated as a topic within the broader study of how proper names function as labels and how naming processes influence vocabulary.

Because onomaonyma is not a widely standardized label, discussions about it tend to situate the concept within related fields such as onomastics, onomasiology, and sociolinguistics. Scholars may use the term to examine how names originate, spread, or shift in status from proper names to common lexical items, and vice versa. This includes attention to phenomena such as name-based labeling, the generalization of brand or proper names into common nouns, and the rhetorical use of names to evoke qualities or categories (antonomasia).

Typical topics associated with onomaonyma include eponym formation (how people or brands become names for objects or concepts), toponymy and personal naming in society, and the branding and linguistic life of names in multilingual contexts. Critics note that the term is obscure and overlapping with better-established concepts like onomastics, antonomasia, and eponymy, so its precise scope remains debated.

See also: onomastics, onomasiology, antonomasia, eponym, toponym.