patronymic
/ˌpætɹəˈnɪmɪk/adjective, noun
patronymic is spelled P-A-T-R-O-N-Y-M-I-C: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, patronymic means “Derived from one's father” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in patronymic?
| Letters | 10: P-A-T-R-O-N-Y-M-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 95,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is patronymic?
Patronymic appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce patronymic?
- /ˌpætɹəˈnɪmɪk/
Patronymic has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-patronymic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of patronymic
- patronymick
- patronymics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does patronymic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Derived from one's father.
- 2
Derived from one's ancestors.
a patronymic denomination
noun
- 1
A name acquired from one's father.
- 2
A name acquired from the first name of one's father, grandfather or earlier (male) ancestor. Some cultures use a patronymic where other cultures use a surname or family name; other cultures (like Russia) use both a patronymic and a surname.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Patronymic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | patronymique , patronyme |
| German | patronymisch , Vatername, Vatersname, Patronymikon, Patronymikum, Patronym |
| Portuguese | patronímico |
| Spanish | patronímico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does patronymic come from?
From Ancient Greek πατήρ (patḗr, “father”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”) (a variant form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”)). Also patronym + -ic, from patro- + -onym.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).