Word of the Day

: September 1, 2008

nomenclature

noun NOH-mun-klay-cher

What It Means

1 : name, designation

2 : the act or process or an instance of naming

3 a : a system or set of terms or symbols especially in a particular science, discipline, or art

b : an international system of standardized New Latin names used in biology for kinds and groups of kinds of animals and plants

nomenclature in Context

Karin was introduced to a whole range of unfamiliar terms when she started her new job as a laboratory assistant, but she soon became familiar with the nomenclature.

Did You Know?

In his 1926 Dictionary of Modern English Usage, grammarian H. W. Fowler asserted that it was wrong to use "nomenclature" as a synonym for "name"; he declared that "nomenclature" could only mean "a system of naming or of names." It is true that "nomenclature" comes from the Latin "nomenclatura," meaning "the assigning of names," but the "name" sense was one of the first to appear in English (it is documented as long ago as 1610), and it has been considered perfectly standard for centuries.