Antonomasia

ANTONOMASIA

Antonomasia (pronounced an-tuh-nuh–mey-zhuh) is a literary term in which a descriptive phrase replaces a person’s name.  Antonomasia can range from lighthearted nicknames to epic names.

The phrase antonomasia is derived from the Greek phrase antonomazein meaning “to name differently.” Oftentimes, antonomasia is used to call attention to a certain characteristic. There are some examples of Antonomasia:

Example 1

Imagine that you have a friend who is a fantastic chef, and you want to say hello.

Normal sentence:

“Oh, look! Sam’s arrived!”

Sentence with Antonomasia:

“Oh, look! The great chef has arrived!”

Here, the use of antonomasia allows you to greet your friend with a nickname which also reveals something about his character: he’s a great chef. 

Example 2

For another example, consider that you have a grumpy teacher:

Normal sentence:

“He’s grumpy, boring, doesn’t want to listen to anyone, and definitely doesn’t want to help anyone.”

Sentence with Antonomasia:

“Mr. Grumps doesn’t want to listen to anyone, and definitely doesn’t want to help anyone.”

Replacing the teacher’s actual name with his defining characteristic, grumpiness, serves to highlight just how much the mood is associated with the man.

The importance of using Antonomasia

Antonomasia can provide someone with a strong epithet which further celebrates and memorializes their great deeds. In advertising and pop culture, such wording can also further celebrate the famous, such as The Beatles as “The Fab Four.”

Uses for antonomasia vary slightly depending on the time period. In the past, antonomasia would be used to designate class members, as oftentimes people’s names were linked to their professions. Antonomasia was also used in the past to give positive names to strong warriors and negative names to weak or nasty people.

Here are a few examples of antonomasia in the past:

• Aristotle as “The Philosopher”
• Winston Churchill as “The Great Commoner”
• William Shakespeare as “The Bard”

In this way, the past is similar to the present, as we tend to use antonomasia purely for enjoyment and fun with nicknames.

Example of Antonomasia in literature

Antonomasia is important in literature, as it can tell more about characters just by their titles. Consider a few examples:

Another example of antonomasia is in Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein’s inability to give the monster a true name is apparent in his constant use of antonomasia:

• “I beheld the wretch—the miserable monster whom I had created”
• “the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life”
• “Devil, do you dare approach me?”
• “Begone, vile insect!”

Frankenstein’s creation is never given a name, and instead is given countless instances of antonomasia which show Frankenstein’s inability to accept his creation.

(http://literaryterms.net/antonomasia/)