pseudonym
pronunciation
How to pronounce pseudonym in British English:
UK [ˈsu:dənɪm]
How to pronounce pseudonym in American English:
US [ˈsudnˌɪm]
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- Noun:
- a fictitious name used when the person performs a particular social role
Word Origin
- pseudonym
- pseudonym: [19] Pseudonym comes via French pseudonyme from Greek pseudónumon, a compound formed from pseudés ‘false’ and ónoma ‘name’. Pseudés, a derivative of the verb pseúdein ‘lie’, has given English the prolific prefix pseudo-, which in the mid 20th century yielded the noun and adjective pseud.=> name
- pseudonym (n.)
- 1828, in part a back-formation from pseudonymous, in part from German pseudonym and French pseudonyme (adj.), from Greek pseudonymos "having a false name, under a false name," from pseudes "false" (see pseudo-) + onyma, Aeolic dialectal variant of onoma "name" (see name (n.)). "Possibly a dictionary word" at first [Barnhart]. Fowler calls it "a queer out-of-the-way term for an everyday thing." Properly in reference to made-up names; the name of an actual author or person of reputation affixed to a work he or she did not write is an allonym. An author's actual name affixed to his or her own work is an autonym (1867).
Example
- 1. At its most basic level , a pseudonym is a prank .
- 2. Eric blair , pseudonym george orwell , was a master writer and story teller .
- 3. They have a daughter , who attends harvard under a pseudonym .
- 4. Greene himself entered under a pseudonym and only came second .
- 5. When the venerable tradition of the pseudonym is discussed , it is often in reductive terms .