mat·ro·nym·ic

(măt′rə-nĭm′ĭk) also me·tro·nym·ic (mē′trə-, mĕt′rə-)

adj.

Of, relating to, or derived from the name of one's mother or maternal ancestor.

A name so derived.

[Greek mātrōnumikos, dialectal variant of mētrōnumikos : mētēr, mētr-, mother; see metro- + onuma, name; see nō̆-men- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

matronymic

(ˌmætrəˈnɪmɪk)

adj, n

a less common word for metronymic

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mat•ro•nym•ic

(ˌmæ trəˈnɪm ɪk)

adj.

1. derived from the name of a mother or other female ancestor.

2. a matronymic name.

[1785–95; alter. of metronymic, by influence of patronymicand matri-]

metronymic, matronymic

a name derived from a mother or a female ancestor. Cf. patronymic.

See also: Names

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

matronymic - a name derived from the name of your mother or a maternal ancestor

metronymic

name - a language unit by which a person or thing is known; "his name really is George Washington"; "those are two names for the same thing"

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

In the Quran, she is one of the few women referred to by name, and Jesus never appears without his matronymic name "Ibn Maryam."

Annunciation brings business to south Lebanon artisans

It's hard to say, since she grew up in two cultures, Iceland and Scotland -- her dad is Scottish, hence the surname; she also has an Icelandic matronymic, 'Kristinardottir' -- and never really felt like she fit in.

A different biology

These names could be patronymic (from the father), matronymic (from the mother), or neither; the specific relevant categories consist of patronymic female-specific, matronymic female-specific, matronymic male-specific, matronymic gender-neutral, and female-specific but neither patronymic nor matronymic.

In the name of the father compulsion, tradition, and law in the lost history of women's surnames

And "Bashevis" is a matronymic: Singer's mother's name was Bathsheba, or, in the Yiddish pronunciation, Bas-sheve; "Bashevis" is the possessive form of his mother's name, so "Yitshak Bashevis" might be translated as "Isaac, Bathsheba's son."

Isaac Bashevis Singer: a bibliography

Flavia Menandra's matronymic obviously follows in lines II.8-9 (consistent with lines III.10, 13): [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] ...

A Family of Eumolpidai and Kerykes descended from Pericles

From the etymology of her name Penelope is veiled by the yam the spins, materially evident in matronymic attribute (pene = "spindle").

Euclid's first proposition and Joyce's womb with a view

Milton states that if medicine had been able to prevent death, Chiron (here given the matronymic Philyreie (25) - son of the nymph Philyra) would not have been fatally injured by an arrow.(8) Aesculapius (here described in the phrase 'you who were cut from your mother's womb' (28)) would not have been killed by Jupiter's thunderbolt.

Milton and two Italian humanists: some hitherto unnoticed neo-Latin echoes in 'In Obitum Procancellarii Medici' and 'In Obitum Praesulis Eliensis'

In literature, deviant workplace behavior is used under different matronymics. Although the concepts are kindred, there may still be slim differences among them.

Incidences of workplace deviance behavior among nurses