Patronymic

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Patronymic \Pa`tro*nym"ic\, n. [Gr. patrwnymiko`n.]
     A modification of the father's name borne by the son; a name
     derived from that of a parent or ancestor; as, Pelides, the
     son of Peleus; Johnson, the son of John; Macdonald, the son
     of Donald; Paulowitz, the son of Paul; also, the surname of a
     family; the family name. --M. A. Lower.


     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In Russia, the patronymic is taken routinely as a
           middle name, and is commonly used together with the
           given name in addressing people with whom one is
           familiar, thus Ivan Ivanovich would be commonly used to
           address Ivan, whose father was Ivan; likewise Boris
           Michaelovich would address Boris the son of Michael,
           and Lena Ivanova would address Lena, the daughter of
           Ivan.
           [PJC]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Patronymic \Pa`tro*nym"ic\ (-n[i^]m"[i^]k), a. [L. patronymicus,
     Gr. patrwnymiko`s; path`r father + 'o`noma name: cf. F.
     patronymique.]
     Derived from ancestors; as, a patronymic denomination.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  patronymic
       adj : of a patronymic name
       n : a name derived with an affix (such as -son in English or O'-
           in Irish) from the name of your father or a paternal
           ancestor