Praenomen is an English word with synonyms like forename. Below you'll find 10+ example sentences showing how it's used in practice.
Praenomen in a sentence
Praenomen meaning
- An Ancient Roman given name.
- The throne name of a pharaoh, the fourth of the five names of the royal titulary, traditionally encircled by a cartouche and preceded by the title nswt-bjtj.
- The genus name in a binomial scientific name.
Synonyms of Praenomen
Using Praenomen
- The main meaning on this page is: An Ancient Roman given name. | The throne name of a pharaoh, the fourth of the five names of the royal titulary, traditionally encircled by a cartouche and preceded by the title nswt-bjtj. | The genus name in a binomial scientific name.
- Useful related words include: first name, given name, forename.
- In the example corpus, praenomen often appears in combinations such as: the praenomen, praenomen and, of praenomen.
Context around Praenomen
- Average sentence length in these examples: 23.8 words
- Position in the sentence: 2 start, 13 middle, 5 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Praenomen
- In this selection, "praenomen" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 23.8 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, same, roman, additional, placed, given and remained stand out and add context to how "praenomen" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include adopt the praenomen and nomen and an additional praenomen usually without. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "praenomen" sits close to words such as abattoirs, aberrant and abike, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with praenomen
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Praenomen main A Roman child. (5 words)
Filiation Apart from the praenomen, the filiation was the oldest element of the Roman name. (15 words)
In October 180 he changed his praenomen from Lucius to Marcus, presumably in honour of his father. (17 words)
Both inscriptions are from Roman Spain, and are also notable for the doubled nomen and for the cognomen Secunda, which in this case is really a praenomen placed after the filiation, a common practice in Roman women's names of this period. (42 words)
But individual cognomina could also be used to distinguish between members of the same family; even as siblings came to share the same praenomen, they bore different cognomina, some from the paternal line, and others from their maternal ancestors. (39 words)
Originally Roman women shared the binomial nomenclature of men; but over time the praenomen became less useful as a distinguishing element, and women's praenomina were gradually discarded, or replaced by informal names. (33 words)
Example sentences (20)
Almost all other persons mentioned as part of the traditions surrounding Romulus as the first King of Rome have both praenomen and nomen.
Also, because praenomina had grammatical gender, a brother and sister could have the same praenomen, in masculine and feminine forms, and still be easily distinguished.
An emperor might emancipate or enfranchise large groups of people at once, all of whom would automatically receive the emperor's praenomen and nomen.
Another factor was probably that the praenomen was not usually necessary to distinguish between women within the family.
As a result, "New Romans" and, under their influence, "old Romans" too, either dropped the nomen from their name or, in some cases, treated the nomen as a praenomen.
As to his first name, no praenomen is given in any ancient source; P. G. Walsh, (1999) The Golden Ass, page xi.
Both inscriptions are from Roman Spain, and are also notable for the doubled nomen and for the cognomen Secunda, which in this case is really a praenomen placed after the filiation, a common practice in Roman women's names of this period.
But individual cognomina could also be used to distinguish between members of the same family; even as siblings came to share the same praenomen, they bore different cognomina, some from the paternal line, and others from their maternal ancestors.
But this appears to refer to some sort of formal ceremony in which a praenomen was granted or confirmed, rather than the original act of naming.
Customarily a newly enfranchised citizen would adopt the praenomen and nomen of his patron; that is, the person who had adopted or manumitted him, or otherwise procured his citizenship.
Filiation Apart from the praenomen, the filiation was the oldest element of the Roman name.
Finally, the Roman praenomen (given name) Caeso was said to be given to children who were born via C-section.
For men, who might hold public office or serve in the military, the praenomen remained an important part of the legal name.
For most of the Republic, the usual manner of distinguishing individuals was through the binomial form of praenomen and nomen.
In October 180 he changed his praenomen from Lucius to Marcus, presumably in honour of his father.
In subsequent generations, all reigning emperors assumed Imperator as an additional praenomen (usually without foregoing their original praenomina), and Augustus as a cognomen.
Invocation Frederic Leighton (1830–1896) In the earliest period, the binomial nomenclature of praenomen and nomen that developed throughout Italy was shared by both men and women.
Originally Roman women shared the binomial nomenclature of men; but over time the praenomen became less useful as a distinguishing element, and women's praenomina were gradually discarded, or replaced by informal names.
Praenomen main A Roman child.
The name Nibhurrereya in the Amarna letters may be closer to how his praenomen was actually pronounced.
Common combinations with praenomen
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts: