• Exonymy

    Origin

    - + exo + -

    Full definition of exonymy

    Noun

    exonymy

    (uncountable)
    1. The use of the name for a group or geographic region by outsiders, as opposed to that by its members or inhabitants.
      • 2000, B Bodenhorn & G vom Bruck, Processes of Naming, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (Brazil/Paris) analysed the comparative relation between exonymy and endonymy in lowland South America.
      • 2008, TanyËœxiwe's Journey: A Javae Theory of History, As such, there arises a symbolic association between endonymy and the firstborn, and exonymy and the last-born, in keeping with the idea that the firstborn represents internal continuity and the last-born represents the transformation associated with exteriority. Indeed, in the practice of name-giving, the names of the firstborn come from the closest kin and from what is "inside", whereas the names of the last-born come from more distant kin and from what is increasingly "outside."
      • 2011, William Cooney, Egypt's encounter with the West: Race, Culture and Identity in Pacific Linguistics (thesis, Durham University), First it will examine the etymologies of the various groups as products of Egyptian nomenclature (exonymy) or indigenous nomenclature (endonymy).
    © Wiktionary