prenomen

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a variant spelling of praenomen: the first or personal name in an ancient Roman name, preceding the nomen and cognomen

   In Marcus Tullius Cicero, Marcus is the prenomen.

2. 2
   noun

   rare or literary: a person's first or given name

   The family register listed each child's prenomen before the surname.

A variant spelling of praenomen, borrowed from Latin praenomen, from prae- ('before') + nomen ('name'). In the Roman naming system it was the personal name placed before the clan name or nomen; literary English has occasionally extended the word to an ordinary forename.

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