pseudonym

See also: Pseudonym

English

WOTD – 5 October 2006

English Wikipedia has an article on:

pseudonym

Wikipedia

Etymology

Back-formation from pseudonymous, from French pseudonyme (“pseudonymous”, adjective), from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos), from ψευδής (pseudḗs, “false”) and ὄνυμα (ónuma), a dialectal form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”). By surface analysis, pseudo- +‎ -onym.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈs(j)uː.də(ʊ).nɪm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsu.də.nɪm/, /ˈsu.doʊ.nɪm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

pseudonym (plural pseudonyms)

1. A fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie stars.

   Synonym: anonym

   Antonyms: autonym, orthonym, alethonym

   Hyponyms: allonym; ananym; stage name; pen name, nom de plume; nom de clavier, nom de Web; nom de guerre

   Coordinate terms: alias; nickname, moniker, handle

   The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

   • c. 1911, H. G. Wells, The Obliterated Man:

     I doubt, indeed, whether I should not abandon the struggle altogether—leave this sad world of ordinary life for which I am so ill fitted, abandon the name of Cummins for some professional pseudonym, complete my self-effacement, and—a thing of tricks and tatters, of posing and pretence—go upon the stage.

   • 1928, H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature:

     The best example of its literary use so far are the German novel The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink, and the drama The Dybbuk, by the jewish writer using the pseudonym "Ansky".

   • 2025 March 3, Nico Lang, ““Simply Trying to Exist”: How Trans Americans Are Navigating the Confusion and Chaos of Trump’s Passport Policy”, in Them‎:

     “I, at first, tried to say, ‘Well, maybe it was an accident. Maybe it got stuck in a printer.’ That was my first thought,” Parker, who requested to go by a pseudonym due to fear of retaliation, tells Them.

Derived terms

• pseudonymic
• pseudonymisation
• pseudonymise
• pseudonymiser
• pseudonymity
• pseudonymization
• pseudonymize
• pseudonymized
• pseudonymizer
• pseudonymous
• pseudonymously
• pseudonymousness

Translations

fictitious name (more literally, a false name)

Afrikaans: skuilnaam Albanian: pseudonim (sq) m Arabic: اِسْم مُسْتَعَار m (ism mustaʕār) Armenian: կեղծանուն (hy) (keġcanun) Azerbaijani: təxəllüs Belarusian: псеўдані́м m (psjewdaním) Breton: anv-pluenn (br) m Bulgarian: псевдони́м (bg) m (psevdoním) Catalan: pseudònim (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 假名 (zh) (jiǎmíng) (fake name), 化名 (zh) (huàmíng) (assumed name), 筆名 / 笔名 (zh) (bǐmíng) (pen name), 藝名 / 艺名 (zh) (yìmíng) (stage name) Czech: pseudonym (cs) m Danish: pseudonym n Dutch: pseudoniem (nl) n, schuilnaam (nl) m, deknaam (nl) m Esperanto: pseŭdonimo Estonian: varjunimi, pseudonüüm Finnish: salanimi (fi), nimimerkki (fi), pseudonyymi (fi) French: pseudonyme (fr) m, nom de guerre (fr) m Georgian: ფსევდონიმი (ka) (psevdonimi) German: Pseudonym (de) n Greek: ψευδώνυμο (el) n (psevdónymo) Hindi: तख़ल्लुस m (taxallus), छद्मनाम m (chadmanām) Hungarian: álnév (hu) Icelandic: höfundarnafn n, dulnefni n, leyninafn n Ido: pseudonimo (io) Indonesian: pseudonim (id) Irish: ainm bréige m, ainm cleite m (pen name) Italian: pseudonimo (it) m Japanese: 仮名 (ja) (かめい, kamei), 偽名 (ja) (ぎめい, gimei), 変名 (ja) (へんめい, henmei), 雅号 (ja) (がごう, gagō), 筆名 (ja) (ひつめい, hitsumei), ペンネーム (ja) (pennēmu), 芸名 (ja) (geimei), 武号 (ja) (used by a martial artist) Kazakh: бүркеншік ат (kk) (bürkenşık at), лақап ат (laqap at) Korean: 익명(匿名) (ko) (ingmyeong), 필명(筆名) (ko) (pilmyeong), 가명(假名) (ko) (gamyeong) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: زِڕناو (zirrnaw) Northern Kurdish: zirrnav Southern Kurdish: زِڕناو (zirrnaw) Latin: pseudonymum n Latvian: pseidonīms (lv) m Lithuanian: slapyvardis m, pseudonimas m Macedonian: псевдони́м m (psevdoním) Norman: nom-d'plieunme m (Jersey; pen name) Norwegian: Bokmål: pseudonym (no) n, psevdonym n Nynorsk: pseudonym n, psevdonym n Persian: Iranian Persian: نامِ مُسْتَعار (nâm-e mosta'âr) Polish: pseudonim (pl) m Portuguese: pseudónimo (pt) m (European Portuguese spelling), pseudônimo (pt) m (Brazilian spelling) Romanian: pseudonim (ro) n Russian: псевдони́м (ru) m (psevdoním), вы́мышленное и́мя n (výmyšlennoje ímja) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: псеудо̀ним m Roman: pseudònim (sh) m Sicilian: psiudònimu m Slovak: pseudonym m Slovene: psevdonim (sl) m Spanish: seudónimo (es) m Swahili: jina bandia (sw) Swedish: pseudonym (sv) c Thai: นามแฝง (th) (naam-fɛ̌ɛng) Tibetan: མིང་རྫུས་མ (ming rdzus ma) Turkish: mahlas (tr), psödonim Ukrainian: псевдоні́м m (psevdoním) Urdu: عَرْف m ('arf), عُرْف m ('urf), تَخَلُّص m (taxallus) Uzbek: taxallus (uz) Vietnamese: biệt hiệu (vi) (別號), bút danh (vi) (筆名), tên chữ (vi) (𠸛𡨸), tên tự (vi) (𠸛字) Welsh: ffugenw m

See also

• codename
• dysphemism
• euphemism
• nom de code

Czech

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

pseudonym

Wikipedia ^cs

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpsɛu̯donɪm]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Noun

pseudonym m inan

1. pseudonym

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “pseudonym”, in Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny (in Czech), 2012–2020

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

pseudonym

Wikipedia ^da

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sœvdonyːm/, [sœwd̥oˈnyːˀm]

Noun

pseudonym n (singular definite pseudonymet, plural indefinite pseudonymer)

1. pseudonym

Inflection

Declension of pseudonym

neuter gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	pseudonym	pseudonymet	pseudonymer	pseudonymerne
genitive	pseudonyms	pseudonymets	pseudonymers	pseudonymernes

Adjective

pseudonym

1. pseudonymous

Inflection

Inflection of pseudonym

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	pseudonym	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	pseudonymt	—	—2
plural	pseudonyme	—	—2
definite attributive1	pseudonyme	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Further reading

• pseudonym on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

German

German Wikipedia has an article on:

pseudonym

Wikipedia ^de

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [psɔɪ̯doˈnyːm]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

pseudonym (strong nominative masculine singular pseudonymer, not comparable)

1. pseudonymous

Declension

Positive forms of pseudonym (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist pseudonym	sie ist pseudonym	es ist pseudonym	sie sind pseudonym
strong declension (without article)	nominative	pseudonymer	pseudonyme	pseudonymes	pseudonyme
	genitive	pseudonymen	pseudonymer	pseudonymen	pseudonymer
	dative	pseudonymem	pseudonymer	pseudonymem	pseudonymen
	accusative	pseudonymen	pseudonyme	pseudonymes	pseudonyme
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der pseudonyme	die pseudonyme	das pseudonyme	die pseudonymen
	genitive	des pseudonymen	der pseudonymen	des pseudonymen	der pseudonymen
	dative	dem pseudonymen	der pseudonymen	dem pseudonymen	den pseudonymen
	accusative	den pseudonymen	die pseudonyme	das pseudonyme	die pseudonymen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein pseudonymer	eine pseudonyme	ein pseudonymes	(keine) pseudonymen
	genitive	eines pseudonymen	einer pseudonymen	eines pseudonymen	(keiner) pseudonymen
	dative	einem pseudonymen	einer pseudonymen	einem pseudonymen	(keinen) pseudonymen
	accusative	einen pseudonymen	eine pseudonyme	ein pseudonymes	(keine) pseudonymen

Antonyms

• alethonym
• orthonym

Adverb

pseudonym

1. pseudonymously, in a pseudonymous manner

Further reading

• “pseudonym” in Duden online
• “pseudonym” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:

pseudonym

Wikipedia ^nb

Alternative forms

• psevdonym

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos).

Noun

pseudonym n (definite singular pseudonymet, indefinite plural pseudonym or pseudonymer, definite plural pseudonyma or pseudonymene)

1. pseudonym

References

• “pseudonym” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

pseudonym

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Alternative forms

• psevdonym

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos).

Noun

pseudonym n (definite singular pseudonymet, indefinite plural pseudonym, definite plural pseudonyma)

1. pseudonym

References

• “pseudonym” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.