exonym

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a name used by outsiders for a place, people, or language that differs from the name the people use for themselves

   Cologne is the English exonym for the German city of Köln.

2. 2
   noun

   a foreign-language rendering of a proper name adapted to local pronunciation or spelling

   The exonym Florence is an anglicized form of the Italian Firenze.

From Greek exo- ("outside") + onyma ("name"), coined in the mid-20th century by geographer Marcel Aurousseau for names outsiders impose on a place or people (Cologne for Köln, Japan for Nippon). The counterpart is endonym, the name a group uses for itself.

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images