Thursday, September 22, 2005
Word of the Day #12
charactonym
(KAR-ik-tuh-nim) noun
A name of a fictional character that suggests the personality traits of that character.
[From English character, from Greek charakter (marking or engraving tool) + -onym (name).]
The examples from one of my favourite book series - The Asterix Books. Almost all the character names in the books are charactonyms:
(KAR-ik-tuh-nim) noun
A name of a fictional character that suggests the personality traits of that character.
[From English character, from Greek charakter (marking or engraving tool) + -onym (name).]
The examples from one of my favourite book series - The Asterix Books. Almost all the character names in the books are charactonyms:
- Asterix - asterisk, the star of the books
- Obelix - obelisk, the huge obelisk shaped best friend
- Getafix - Get-A-Fix, the druid who has a cure for everything
- Vitalstatistix - Vital-Statistics, the chief of the village
- Cacofonix - Cacophony, the village bard who cannot actually sing, a precursor to modern rock vocalists ;)
- Unhygenix - Unhygenic, the fish-monger whose fish is always rotten
- Geriatrix - Geriatric, the oldest inhabitant of the village
- Impedimenta - Impediment, the wife of the village chief :p
- Panacea - Cure for all diseases, the most beautiful girl in the village, like they say, beauty is the cure for all ills :)
