‖ prænomen
(priːˈnəʊmɛn)
Also pre-.
[L., a forename, f. præ before + nōmen name.]
1. In Rom. Antiq., The first name, preceding the nomen and cognomen; the personal name; thus the prænomen of Marcus Tullius Cicero was Marcus. Hence, the first name of persons of other nations or times; the Christian name of later times.
| 1706 Phillips, Prænomen, among the Romans, that which was put before the Nomen, or General Name, and signify'd as much as our Proper Name. 1745 J. Ward in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 370 Whether the C after Imp. in the others was designed for Cæsar or a prænomen, I cannot venture to assert. 1838 Arnold Hist. Rome I. 421 note, It need not be said, that in old times men were designated by their prænomen, rather than by their nomen, or cognomen. 1844 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 81/2 With reference to the dates, pre-nomens, and royal standards of the monarchs by whom the pyramids were erected. 1886 Athenæum 4 Sept. 313/1 The names of servants are generally prænomens only, e.g. ‘Alicia seruiente predicti Hugonis’. |
† 2. The first of two words constituting the name of a place, as Chipping Barnet. Obs. rare.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Cambr. (1662) i. 153 It being usuall to leave out the Prenomen of a Town for brevity sake, by those of the Vicenage,..commonly calling West⁓chester, Chester, South-hampton, Hampton. |
3. In the binominal nomenclature of Natural History, the first or generic name of a plant or animal, which precedes the specific name. rare.
| 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. Introd. Lect. 28 Uva ursi is now preceded by the prænomen Arctostaphylos. 1895 Syd. Soc. Lex., Prenomen,..Biol., the first or generic portion of a compound name. |