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a-gnōmen (adn- ), ĭnis, n. gnomen, nomen,
I.a surname (this word seems to have been first employed in later Lat. by the gramm. in order to distinguish the surname of individuals, e. g. Africanus, Asiaticus, Cunctator, and the like, from that belonging to all the members of a family (the agnati), e. g. Scipio, Cicero, Cato, and the like; while both these ideas were, through the whole class. per., designated by cognomen, q.v.: “propriorum nominum quattuor sunt species: Praenomen, Nomen, Cognomen, Agnomen: praenomen est quod nominibus gentilitiis praeponitur, ut Marcus, Publius; nomen proprium est gentilitium, id est, quod originem gentis vel familiae declarat, ut Portius, Cornelius; cognomen est quod uniuscujusque proprium est et nominibus gentilitiis subjungitur, ut Cato, Scipio; agnomen vero est quod extrinsecus cognominibus adici solet, ex aliquā ratione vel virtute quaesitum, ut est Africanus, Numantinus, et similia,” Diom. p. 306 P.; so Prisc. 578 P. al.; Capit. Ver. 3.
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