“Diacronia” bibliometric database (BDD)
Title:

Nomen atque omen – numele ca semn prevestitor în Antichitate

Author:
Publication: Magistri et alumni, amore scribendi. Studia. In Honorem Professoris Nicolae Felecan, Section Cultură și civilizație clasică. Romanistică, p. 756
ISBN:978-606-543-726-5
Editors:Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan
Publisher:Editura Mega, Editura Argonaut
Place:Cluj-Napoca
Year:
Abstract:[Nomen atque omen – The name as omen in antiquity]
The paper aims to analyse the signification of the famous Latin expression nomen atque omen, also known as nomen et omen, nomen est omen. This phrase appears for the first time in Plautus’ comedy Persa (v.625), when the slave Toxillus tries to persuade his master, Dordalus, that it would be very profitable for him to bay the slave Lucris, because her name, as a derivative from the Latin word lucrum (‘gain’), is thought to be an omen of gain: Nomen atque omen quantivis iam est preti (‘The name and, moreover, the omen already deserve the price’). In fact, the belief in the omen of a person’s name has Greek origins, in Pythagoras’ philosophy and in the mentality of the Greek people. The same belief can be found in the Roman world, according to the Roman writers: for instance, Cicero uses the phrase omen nominis (‘the omen of the name’) in two speeches (Pro Aemilio Scauro and In Verrem, II, 2), to refer to the owners of ominosa cognomina (‘ominous nicknames’), such as Valerius (‘the strong man’) and Verres (‘the boar’). This antique belief is developed in Carl Jung’s theory of nominative determinism.
Key words:name, omen, onomastic prophecy, ominous nicknames
Language: Romanian

Citations to this publication: 1

References in this publication: 4

1Irina CondreaAntroponimul ca semn lingvisticLRM, XXI (3-6), 1912011pdf
15Nicolae FelecanÎntre lingvistică și filologieEditura Mega2011
136Alexandru GraurNume de persoaneEditura Științifică1965
165Alfred Ernout, Antoine MeilletDictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine
Histoire des mots
Klincksieck1932; 1939; 1951; 2001

The citations/references list is based on indexed publications only, and may therefore be incomplete.
For any and all inquiries related to the database, please contact us at [Please enable javascript to view.].

Preview: