prenominaladj.n.
/priːˈnɒmᵻnl/, U.S. /priˈnɑmən(ə)l/ A. adj.† 2. Relating to the praenomen or first name, as distinguished from the surname; (Botany) relating to the first word in a vernacular plant name of two or more words (rare). Obsolete.
1. Grammar. That precedes a noun.In quot. 1613 (of an honorific title): that precedes a person's name.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > noun > [adjective] > preceding a noun
prenominal1613
1613 R. Dallington Briefe Inference Guicciardines Digression 26 in Aphorismes Ciuill & Militarie That prenominall Frontlet of Most Christian the French King weares still as the fairest gemme of his Diademe.
1748 T. Bowles Aristarchus (ed. 2) 10 Capitals begin Periods, proper Names, Verses, Emphatical Words, and are Prænominal, Compendiary, and Numeral.
?1798 S. Ireland Investigation Mr. Malone’s Claim 31 He says that when used with the personal pronouns or prenominal adjectives, it was always written separately.
1846 in J. L. Blake Biogr. Dict. (1859) 489/1 (title) On the derivation of words from prenominal and prepositional roots.
1873 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1872 23 With the prenominal prefix, wut, Micm. oot, aoutem becomes ootaoutem.
1912 Amer. Anthropologist 14 238 The system of sex gender rigidly carried out in the noun and verb system of Chinook is shared by the Coast Salish dialects only in so far as prenominal articles are found to express distinctions of gender.
1948 Amer. Speech 23 252 The advantages derived from the use of -type as a prenominal modifier are several, and help to explain its popularity.
1999 Language 75 252 If a language permits a prenominal relative clause, it permits the typically shorter and less internally complex prenominal possessive phrase.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [adjective] > relating to first word in plant name
prenominal1646
the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [adjective] > relating to a first or Christian name
prenominal1847
first name1905
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. vii. 102 So are they deceived in the names of Horse-raddish, Horse-mint, Bull-rush and many more: conceiving therein some prenominall consideration, whereas indeed that expression is but a Grecisme, by the prefix of hippos and bous..intending no more then great. View more context for this quotation
1769 J. Hall-Stevenson Lyric Consol. 72 They..take great delight in prenominal familiarity with each other.
1847 J. G. Saxe Rape of Lock xxi The patronymical name of the maid Was so completely overlaid With a long prænominal cover.
1882 Cornhill Mag. Feb. 219 Many other prenominal absurdities.
B. n.
Grammar. A word or case that precedes a noun; (also in later use) a word which precedes a person's name as an honorific or professional title.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > noun > [noun] > word preceding the noun
prenoun1851
prenominal1947
1947 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 37 254/2 The possessive prenominal forms for the objective and instrumental are formed by suffixing the possessive prenominals given in Tables V a and b.
1964 Language 40 45 As a prenominal the genitive has two unique characteristics.
1987 B. MacWhinney Mechanisms Lang. Acquisition iii. ix. 338 The analysis of younger children reveals support for the view that the argument structure of the affix is learned for passives and prenominals simultaneously.
2004 Australian (Nexis) 16 Feb. 10 Each of us could think of a thousand reasons why we were entitled to the lost prenominals [sc. the title accompanying a knighthood.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1613