[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/patronymic/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [P](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/p/) / patronymic

# patronymic

noun (a patronymic, patronymics); adjective

«patronymic» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A name made from the name of your father or a male ancestor, like Johnson (son of John) or Ukrainian Ivanovych (son of Ivan). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#m1)
2. (adjective) Made from a father's name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#m2)

### In the lessons

In history, English and languages lessons on names: surnames like Robertson, Williams, O'Brien (Irish «Ó» = descendant), MacDonald (Scottish «Mac» = son), Jones (son of John) began as patronymics. In Ukrainian and Russian, people have a patronymic as a middle name, e.g. Ivanovych or Ivanivna. In Iceland, Björk Guðmundsdóttir means daughter of Guðmundur.

### Examples

- Johnson is a patronymic surname meaning son of John. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#x1)
- In Ukrainian, a patronymic is used in polite address, like Taras Hryhorovych. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#x2)
- Icelandic people often use patronymics instead of family names. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#x3)
- «Mac» in MacDonald works like a patronymic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#x4)
- Our teacher explained that Fitzgerald means son of Gerald. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#x5)
- A name from your mother is a matronymic, not a patronymic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/#x6)

### Note

Countable. Pronounced «pa-truh-NIM-ik». From Greek «pater» (father) and «onoma» (name). The female form often has a different ending (Ukrainian -ivna for daughters, -ovych/-yovych for sons).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «patronymic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/patronymic/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«patronymic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/patronymic.html) on Mova free.