A singlename by which a person, thing, etc., is known.
The singer-songwriter Madonna Louise Ciccone is known by themononym Madonna.
1891,The Shipley collection of scientific papers - Volume 27:
The atlas and axis have special names, but most of the vertebra, like the ribs, are merely numbered ; among the arteries, the aorta only has amononym ;
1898,Biological lectures delivered at the Marine Biological Laboratory of .Wood's Holl[sic].:
Briefly, the adoption ofcalcar is a logical corollary of the recommendation which is common to the reports of all four American committees,vi., "Other things being equal, it is recommended thatmononyms be preferred to polynyms."Calcar avis is a polyonym ;calcar is amononym. If it be said thatunguis is also amononym, the answer is that in this case "other things" would not be equal, because (1) no general preference has ever been shown for it or for any term of which it is a constituent; (2) there would be lost the advantage of the correlation now existing between the ental ridge and the fissure collacated therewith.
1970, John Springer,The Fondas: The Films and Careers of Henry, Jane, and Peter Fonda:
As the heroine, the tall, thin actress who calls itself Capucine is as crystalline and icy as her elegantmononym.
2019, Alexis Hall,The Affair of the Mysterious Letter,→ISBN, page146:
The academic I already knew by reputation; they went by themononym Farah and were one of the foremost authorities on Ilari poetry.
1993, Richard Alan Strehlow, Sue Ellen Wright,Standardizing Terminology for Better Communication,→ISBN:
ISO 704 and ISO 1087 prescribe mononymy as highly desirable for standardized terminologies, but as experience shows, individuals in developing disciplines (having unsettled terminology) are rarely able to agree onmononyms.
