Etymograph

English

cognominal

Cognominal comes from Latin cognōmen ‘cognomen: additional name or nickname’, and goes back to Hittite ḫannaⁱ- ‘to sue, judge’.

  1. Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-1transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥2‘name’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥2‘name’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmen2‘name’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōmen3‘cognomen: additional name or nickname’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1821cognominal3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin cognomen
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cognominal
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1821, The Edinburgh Monthly Review: “[…] Mr. Diedrich Knickerbocker, a name not yet ranked…”.

Lineage

  1. Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥Wiktionary, Latin cognomen‘name’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥Wiktionary, Latin cognomen‘name’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmenWiktionary, Latin cognomen‘name’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōmenWiktionary, English cognominal‘cognomen: additional name or nickname’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1821cognominalWiktionary, English cognominal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1821, The Edinburgh Monthly Review: “[…] Mr. Diedrich Knickerbocker, a name not yet ranked…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ ‘name’

name, anonymity, pseudonym, 31 more

through Latin nōmen ‘name’

noun, nomination, allocate, renown, nominate, misnomer, nominative, nomen, ignominious, ignominy, 19 more

Another origin of cognominal

  1. Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥‘name’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥‘name’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmen‘name’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōminis‘bearing the same name’
  6. Englishtodaycognominal

Today it means

adj Of or relating to a cognomen.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cognominal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥, Latin cognomen. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Hittite ḫannaⁱ- / cognominal

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