Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or derived from the name of one's father or a paternal ancestor.
- noun A name so derived.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Derived from or constituting the name of a father or ancestor.
- noun A name derived from that of parents or ancestors: as, Tydides, the son of Tydeus; Pelides, the son of Peleus; Fitzwilliam, the son of William; Williamson, the son of William; Pavlovitch, the son of Paul; Macdonald, the son of Donald; in general use, a, family name; a surname. The usual Anglo-Saxon patronymic ending was -ing (see -ing).
- In anthropology, relating to that form of society in which the child takes its name from the father's family, or in which the child is reckoned as a member of the paternal family.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Derived from ancestors.
- noun A modification of the father's name borne by the son; a name derived from that of a parent or ancestor; ; also, the surname of a family; the family name.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Derived from ancestors; as, a patronymic denomination.
- noun name acquired from one's father's, grandfather's or earlier male ancestor's first name. Some cultures use a patronymic where other cultures use a
surname or family name; other cultures (like Russia) use both a patronymic and a surname.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or derived from a personal or family name
- noun a family name derived from name of your father or a paternal ancestor (especially with an affix (such as -son in English or O'- in Irish) added to the name of your father or a paternal 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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And the listings are organized alphabetically by first name (since the patronymic is not really a “name.”)
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No patronymic is ever bestowed on him; instead he draws his name from the soil, as if to declare his chthonic affinity with Adam.
Patriarchal Fantasy and the Fecal Child in Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_ and its Adaptations 2003
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Bjork’s Icelandic patronymic is correctly spelled Guðmundsdóttir.
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“Elena Vladimirovna telephoned me today,” she says, calling the actress by her name and patronymic, the only way an adult can be addressed in the presence of a child.
A Mountain of Crumbs Elena Gorokhova 2010
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“Elena Vladimirovna telephoned me today,” she says, calling the actress by her name and patronymic, the only way an adult can be addressed in the presence of a child.
A Mountain of Crumbs Elena Gorokhova 2010
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Gospels as Bartholomew, which is a patronymic, meaning son of Tolmai.
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Page 214 the Queen of Hearts) and that Zenobia, as well as Psyche, is good Greek, and that my father was "a Greek," and that consequently I have a right to our original patronymic, which is Zenobia, and not by any means Snobbs.
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. In Two Volumes. Vol. I 1840
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Greek, "and that consequently I have a right to our patronymic, which is
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 4 Edgar Allan Poe 1829
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Even less common is the use of both matronymic and patronymic names – e.g.,
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The traditional Icelandic naming pattern is patronymic and works as follows: If Thor Eriksson and Guðrún Johannesdottir have two kids – Jón and Sigga, the kids names will be Jón Thorsson and Sigga Thorsdottir.
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