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Genealogy-Related Terms
(& terms that I think are neat...)
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patronym (PA-truh-nim) noun - 1. A name
derived from the name of father or an ancestor, e.g. Johnson (son of John). 2.
A surname or family name. [From Greek patronymous (patronymic), from patri-
(father) + -onym (name).]Here are a few more patronyms from other languages
and cultures:
- Arabic bin (bin Laden, son of Laden), bint (Bint Ahmed, daughter of
Ahmed)
- Hebrew ben (Ben-Gurion, son of Gurion; Ben-Hur, son of Hur)
- Hindi -putra/put (Brahmaputra, son of Brahma; Rajput, son of king)
- Irish and Scottish Mac/Mc- (McDonald, son of Donald)
- Irish O (O'Brien, grandson/descendant of Brien)
- Norman Fitz- (Fitzgerald, son of Gerald)
- Russian -ich/-vich, as a middle name (Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, son of
Pavlov).
- Spanish -ez (Fernandez, son of Fernando; Gonzalez son of Gonzalo)
- Welsh ap or p (Pritchard from ap Richard, son of Richard).
philomath
(FIL-uh-math) noun - A lover of learning. [From Greek philomaths (fond of
learning), from philo- (loving) + math- root of manthanein (to learn).]
Here's a late-blooming version of today's
word: opsimath
http://wordsmith.org/words/opsimath.html
catechumen
(kat-i-KYOO-men) noun - 1. One who is receiving religious instruction in
preparation for baptism; a neophyte. 2. A person who is being given basic
education of a subject. [From Late Latin catechumenus, from Greek
katechoumenos (one being taught orally).
from www.wordsmith.org
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