Charactonym

Charactonym

A charactonym is a name that suggests the personality traits of a fictional character. In other words, it is the name given to a literary character that especially fits his or her personality.

Examples

  • Mercutio, a character in Romeo and Juliet: derived from the adjective "Mercurial" meaning "erratic" as can be seen in his 'Queen Mab' speech. It can also be linked to the phrase "as mad as a hatter" as tailors used to use mercury when making hats, continued exposure to it could cause irrational behaviour
  • Mara Jade from Star Wars Expanded Universe: "Mara" means "bitter" in Hebrew; when someone is jaded they are bitter; and bitter is a somewhat simplified description of her character in the first books she appears in. One should note that if Timothy Zahn originally planned her character arc to include her marriage to Luke Skywalker, the name itself can be considered a case of intentional irony.
  • Thomas Gradgrind, a character in Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times, subjects his students to a grinding discipline of "facts, facts, facts."
  • Squire Allworthy, in Henry Fielding's novel Tom Jones, is an exemplar of virtue.
  • Raskolnikov, the protagonist in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment, raskolnik meaning 'schismatic'.
  • Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals. She was known for misusing words with humorous results. From mal- (bad) + apropos (fitting).
  • Remus Lupin in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series turns out to be a werewolf. His first name, "Remus", is an allusion to Romulus and Remus, the legendary twin founders of Rome who were raised by a wolf. His last name, "Lupin", can be traced to the Latin lupus meaning "wolf" (compare French "loup", or English "lupine", meaning "characteristic of or relating to wolves").
  • Another example from the Harry Potter series would be Sirius Black; Sirius is known as the 'Dog Star' (it is part of the constellation Canis Major, with canis being Latin for 'dog'), and Black's Animagus form is a large black dog (one's Animagus form depends on one's personality), tying in with his name.
  • Characters in Pokémon games, such as gym leaders, usually have a name referring to their signature type.
  • Daddy Warbucks - the war profiteer from the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie"
  • Mr. Bumble - from Oliver Twist
  • Mr. Sowerberry - the undertaker from Oliver Twist
  • Alfie Doolittle, the chronically unemployed dad first in Pygmalion (by G.B. Shaw)
  • Hysterium, the panicky slave in the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
  • Shakespeare's Benvolio and Malvolio
  • Pussy Galore - from Ian Fleming's novel Goldfinger



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  • charactonym — /kar ik teuh nim/, n. a name given to a literary character that is descriptive of a quality or trait of the character. [CHARACT(ER) + ONYM] * * * ▪ literature       a name of a fictional character that suggests a distinctive trait of that… …   Universalium

  • charactonym — char·ac·to·nym …   English syllables

  • charactonym — ˈkarə̇ktəˌnim also ˈker noun ( s) Etymology: character + onym : a name especially for a fictional character (as Mistress Quickly or Caspar Milquetoast) that suggests a distinctive trait of the character * * * /kar ik teuh nim/, n. a name given to …   Useful english dictionary

  • -onym — The suffix onym, in English and other languages, means word, name, and words ending in onym refer to a specified kind of name or word, most of which are classical compounds. For example, an acronym is a word formed from the initial letter or… …   Wikipedia

  • Stylistic device — In literature and writing, a stylistic device is the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling to the literal or written. Figurative Language MetaphorA metaphor is a comparison used to add descriptive… …   Wikipedia

  • List of literary terms — The following is a list of literary terms; that is, those words used in discussion, classification, criticism, and analysis of literature.: See also: Glossary of poetry terms, Literary criticism, Literary theory CompactTOC8 name=Contents… …   Wikipedia

  • List of forms of word play — This is a list of techniques used in word play with Wikipedia articles.Technique that involve the phonetic values of words* Mondegreen: a mishearing (usually unintentional) of a phrase as a homophone or near homophone that has as a result… …   Wikipedia

  • Aptonyme — Comme son nom l indique… Un aptonyme est un patronyme possédant un sens lié à la personne qui le porte, le plus souvent en relation avec son métier ou ses occupations. Le terme aptonyme est un néologisme québécois forgé sur les mots… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • aptronym — noun A name that is aptly suited to its owner. Speck also turns out to be a shopkeeper whose small town mentality finds a reflection in his aptronym: Speck in German meaning bacon, he is the local butcher concerned with selling his merchandise… …   Wiktionary

  • euonym — noun A name well suited to a person, place or thing so named Syn: aptonym, aptronym, charactonym Ant: caconym …   Wiktionary

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