termeonym

A termeonym is a type of proper noun that refers to a specific, named entity. It is a term coined by linguist John Lyons to distinguish names of specific things from common nouns, which refer to classes of things. For example, "Mount Everest" is a termeonym, while "mountain" is a common noun. Termeonyms are typically capitalized and are often unique, although there can be multiple instances of the same termeonym, such as the city of Paris in France and Paris, Texas.

The concept of termeonyms is important in linguistics and lexicography. It helps to understand how language categorizes and refers to the world. Identifying termeonyms is crucial for tasks such as named entity recognition in natural language processing, where the goal is to locate and classify proper nouns in text. These named entities can include people, places, organizations, and specific products or events. The study of termeonyms also touches upon etymology and the history of naming conventions. While not a widely used term outside of specialized linguistic circles, the underlying concept of distinguishing specific named entities from general categories is fundamental to language.