Is there a word for when something's name completely fits the description or personality?





.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}







2















for example in a story i'm writing, there is a character named Revenge who's main goal is to get revenge. Is there a single word for that?










share|improve this question























  • Someone had the term for it here yesterday, but they were misusing term and I've forgotten what it is.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:05






  • 1





    Ah, here it is: autological.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:08











  • But I've forgotten it again! (You have my permission to craft your own answer.)

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:24








  • 1





    @HotLicks An autological word describes the word itself, not the referent for the word. The word 'short' is autological because the word 'short' is short. The name of a person which describes the person accurately is not describing the name but the person. It is appropriate or apropos (though I am sure there is a more specific word for the situation).

    – Mitch
    Mar 26 at 2:52


















2















for example in a story i'm writing, there is a character named Revenge who's main goal is to get revenge. Is there a single word for that?










share|improve this question























  • Someone had the term for it here yesterday, but they were misusing term and I've forgotten what it is.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:05






  • 1





    Ah, here it is: autological.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:08











  • But I've forgotten it again! (You have my permission to craft your own answer.)

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:24








  • 1





    @HotLicks An autological word describes the word itself, not the referent for the word. The word 'short' is autological because the word 'short' is short. The name of a person which describes the person accurately is not describing the name but the person. It is appropriate or apropos (though I am sure there is a more specific word for the situation).

    – Mitch
    Mar 26 at 2:52














2












2








2








for example in a story i'm writing, there is a character named Revenge who's main goal is to get revenge. Is there a single word for that?










share|improve this question














for example in a story i'm writing, there is a character named Revenge who's main goal is to get revenge. Is there a single word for that?







single-word-requests synonyms names story






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Mar 26 at 2:03









AnnaAnna

111




111













  • Someone had the term for it here yesterday, but they were misusing term and I've forgotten what it is.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:05






  • 1





    Ah, here it is: autological.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:08











  • But I've forgotten it again! (You have my permission to craft your own answer.)

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:24








  • 1





    @HotLicks An autological word describes the word itself, not the referent for the word. The word 'short' is autological because the word 'short' is short. The name of a person which describes the person accurately is not describing the name but the person. It is appropriate or apropos (though I am sure there is a more specific word for the situation).

    – Mitch
    Mar 26 at 2:52



















  • Someone had the term for it here yesterday, but they were misusing term and I've forgotten what it is.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:05






  • 1





    Ah, here it is: autological.

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:08











  • But I've forgotten it again! (You have my permission to craft your own answer.)

    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 at 2:24








  • 1





    @HotLicks An autological word describes the word itself, not the referent for the word. The word 'short' is autological because the word 'short' is short. The name of a person which describes the person accurately is not describing the name but the person. It is appropriate or apropos (though I am sure there is a more specific word for the situation).

    – Mitch
    Mar 26 at 2:52

















Someone had the term for it here yesterday, but they were misusing term and I've forgotten what it is.

– Hot Licks
Mar 26 at 2:05





Someone had the term for it here yesterday, but they were misusing term and I've forgotten what it is.

– Hot Licks
Mar 26 at 2:05




1




1





Ah, here it is: autological.

– Hot Licks
Mar 26 at 2:08





Ah, here it is: autological.

– Hot Licks
Mar 26 at 2:08













But I've forgotten it again! (You have my permission to craft your own answer.)

– Hot Licks
Mar 26 at 2:24







But I've forgotten it again! (You have my permission to craft your own answer.)

– Hot Licks
Mar 26 at 2:24






1




1





@HotLicks An autological word describes the word itself, not the referent for the word. The word 'short' is autological because the word 'short' is short. The name of a person which describes the person accurately is not describing the name but the person. It is appropriate or apropos (though I am sure there is a more specific word for the situation).

– Mitch
Mar 26 at 2:52





@HotLicks An autological word describes the word itself, not the referent for the word. The word 'short' is autological because the word 'short' is short. The name of a person which describes the person accurately is not describing the name but the person. It is appropriate or apropos (though I am sure there is a more specific word for the situation).

– Mitch
Mar 26 at 2:52










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















0














A modern term is aptonym. It is a play on “apt” (appropriate) and the “-onym” root for name. It is usually for jobs or qualities, not just personalities. Like a person named John Cooke who is a chef, or Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter.






share|improve this answer
























  • Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

    – Ubi hatt
    Mar 26 at 5:27











  • Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

    – KillingTime
    Mar 26 at 6:07











  • As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

    – Damila
    Mar 26 at 13:37












Your Answer








StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491346%2fis-there-a-word-for-when-somethings-name-completely-fits-the-description-or-per%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









0














A modern term is aptonym. It is a play on “apt” (appropriate) and the “-onym” root for name. It is usually for jobs or qualities, not just personalities. Like a person named John Cooke who is a chef, or Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter.






share|improve this answer
























  • Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

    – Ubi hatt
    Mar 26 at 5:27











  • Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

    – KillingTime
    Mar 26 at 6:07











  • As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

    – Damila
    Mar 26 at 13:37
















0














A modern term is aptonym. It is a play on “apt” (appropriate) and the “-onym” root for name. It is usually for jobs or qualities, not just personalities. Like a person named John Cooke who is a chef, or Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter.






share|improve this answer
























  • Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

    – Ubi hatt
    Mar 26 at 5:27











  • Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

    – KillingTime
    Mar 26 at 6:07











  • As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

    – Damila
    Mar 26 at 13:37














0












0








0







A modern term is aptonym. It is a play on “apt” (appropriate) and the “-onym” root for name. It is usually for jobs or qualities, not just personalities. Like a person named John Cooke who is a chef, or Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter.






share|improve this answer













A modern term is aptonym. It is a play on “apt” (appropriate) and the “-onym” root for name. It is usually for jobs or qualities, not just personalities. Like a person named John Cooke who is a chef, or Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Mar 26 at 4:43









DamilaDamila

5797




5797













  • Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

    – Ubi hatt
    Mar 26 at 5:27











  • Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

    – KillingTime
    Mar 26 at 6:07











  • As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

    – Damila
    Mar 26 at 13:37



















  • Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

    – Ubi hatt
    Mar 26 at 5:27











  • Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

    – KillingTime
    Mar 26 at 6:07











  • As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

    – Damila
    Mar 26 at 13:37

















Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

– Ubi hatt
Mar 26 at 5:27





Should link to the dictionary url for OP's perusal.

– Ubi hatt
Mar 26 at 5:27













Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

– KillingTime
Mar 26 at 6:07





Shouldn't that be "aptronym"?

– KillingTime
Mar 26 at 6:07













As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

– Damila
Mar 26 at 13:37





As seen in the link, either one. It’s a portmanteau.

– Damila
Mar 26 at 13:37


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491346%2fis-there-a-word-for-when-somethings-name-completely-fits-the-description-or-per%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

"Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'ON'. (on update cascade, on delete cascade,)

Alcedinidae

Origin of the phrase “under your belt”?