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Definition 2024


hydronymy

hydronymy

English

Noun

hydronymy (countable and uncountable, plural hydronymies)

  1. The naming of bodies of water such as rivers and lakes.
    • 1957, Scottish Studies - Volumes 1-2, page 239:
      As references to foreign hydronymies have shown, this semantic structure and development is not confined to Scotland or to the British Isles.
    • 1989, Jan Gijsbert Pieter Best & ‎Manny M. W. De Vries, Thracians and Mycenaeans, ISBN 9004088644:
      In hydronymy there are many pairs of river names such as Eau Blanche/Eau Noire in France, Blanc Ruxel/Noir Ruisseau in the Vosges, France, Beli Iskdr/Cerni Iskdr in Bulgaria, Crisul Alb/Crisul Negru in Romania.
    • 2007, Helmut Birkhan & ‎Hannes Tauber, Kelten-Einfälle an der Donau:
      Hydronymy marks the most conservative feature of toponomastics. By hydronymy earlier strata of a population might be identified and the movements of prehistoric peoples can be observed assessing the spread of the hydronymy associated with them.