Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or derived from the name of one's mother or maternal ancestor.
- noun A name so derived.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to or being a name derived from a mother or maternal ancestor.
- noun A name derived from a mother or maternal ancestor: correlative to patronymic.
- noun A word of a form used for matronymic designation; a matronymic formation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun See
metronymic .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of, relating to, or derived from the
given name of one'smother or a femaleancestor . - noun A
surname orbyname acquired from thegiven name of one's mother's or from a female ancestor's given name.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a name derived from the name of your mother or a maternal ancestor
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The “Kuniyah,” bye-name, patronymic or matronymic, is necessary amongst Moslems whose list of names, all connected more or less with religion, is so scanty.
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In the above family, the two kids would be named Jón Guðrúnsson and Siga Guðrúnsdottir if matronymic naming was followed.
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Even less common is the use of both matronymic and patronymic names – e.g.,
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I cut off my hair, I went naked in public, I learned ideas by the fistful, I changed my last name to Jochild (a matronymic) and I came back courageous.
CLAIMING YOUR PEOPLE: THINK BIG Maggie Jochild 2007
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One explanation for Simons mysterious background lies in his actual name: fitz means son of but FitzMary is in fact a matronymic (i.e. derived from his mothers Christian name) which commonly denoted illegitimate birth (as in Martin FitzAlice, alderman of St Michaels, Paternoster Royal, in 1281).
Bedlam Catharine Arnold 2008
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“Kunyat” = patronymic or matronymic; a name beginning with “Abu” (father) or with “Umm” (mother).
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One explanation for Simons mysterious background lies in his actual name: fitz means son of but FitzMary is in fact a matronymic (i.e. derived from his mothers Christian name) which commonly denoted illegitimate birth (as in Martin FitzAlice, alderman of St Michaels, Paternoster Royal, in 1281).
Bedlam Catharine Arnold 2008
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One explanation for Simons mysterious background lies in his actual name: fitz means son of but FitzMary is in fact a matronymic (i.e. derived from his mothers Christian name) which commonly denoted illegitimate birth (as in Martin FitzAlice, alderman of St Michaels, Paternoster Royal, in 1281).
Bedlam Catharine Arnold 2008
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I think that Iceland was the only one of these countries to use matronymic names regularly.
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Hence the great clans, Habr Gerhajis and Awal, who prefer the matronymic — Habr signifying a mother, — since, according to their dictum, no man knows who may be his sire. 9 These increased and multiplied by connection and affiliation to such an extent that about 300 years ago they drove their progenitors, the Galla, from
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