CS Knowledge Base

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈs(j)uː.də(ʊ).nɪm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsu.də.nɪm/, /ˈsu.doʊ.nɪm/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (Australia):

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Back-formation from pseudonymous, from Latin pseudonymus (adjective), from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos, adjective), from ψευδής (pseudḗs, “false”) +‎ ὄνυμα (ónuma, a dialectal form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”)) +‎ -ος (-os, adjective-forming suffix). Alternatively, borrowed from French pseudonyme (“fictitious name”, noun), coined in 1834 from pseud- +‎ -onyme (noun-forming suffix). By surface analysis, pseudo- +‎ -onym (noun-forming suffix).

pseudonym (plural pseudonyms)

2. A fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie stars.

   Synonyms: anonym, byname, to-name

   Antonyms: autonym, orthonym, alethonym

   Hyponyms: allonym; ananym; stage name; pen name, nom de plume; nom de clavier, nom de Web; nom de guerre

   Coordinate terms: alias; nickname, moniker, handle

   The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

   • c. 1911, H. G. Wells, The Obliterated Man:

     I doubt, indeed, whether I should not abandon the struggle altogether—leave this sad world of ordinary life for which I am so ill fitted, abandon the name of Cummins for some professional pseudonym, complete my self-effacement, and—a thing of tricks and tatters, of posing and pretence—go upon the stage.

   • 1928, H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature:

     The best example of its literary use so far are the German novel The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink, and the drama The Dybbuk, by the jewish writer using the pseudonym "Ansky".

   • 1980, Kate Bush, “Babooshka”:

     She wanted to test her husband / She knew exactly what to do / A pseudonym to fool him

   • 2025 March 3, Nico Lang, ““Simply Trying to Exist”: How Trans Americans Are Navigating the Confusion and Chaos of Trump’s Passport Policy”, in Them‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 April 2025:

     “I, at first, tried to say, ‘Well, maybe it was an accident. Maybe it got stuck in a printer.’ That was my first thought,” Parker, who requested to go by a pseudonym due to fear of retaliation, tells Them.

Borrowed from French pseudonyme (“pseudonymous”, adjective), from Latin pseudonymus (adjective), from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos, adjective). By surface analysis, pseudo- +‎ -onym.

pseudonym

1. (obsolete, of an author) Pseudonymous (who uses a pseudonym).
   • 1870, The American Catalogue of Books, page 29:

     Thus, contrary to bibliographical rule, we have preferred to record the works of pseudonym authors—such as Eliot, Oliver Optic, etc.—under the adopted name which the author chooses to retain on the title-page.

   • 1882, Contemporary Review, page 625:

     Of these enthusiasts, a book (“Subterranean Russia”) published by a pseudonym author, M. Stepnjak, but the contents of which are in no small measure authenticated by a well-known Russian exile, says: [...]

   • 1883, History of Literature of the Scandinavian North, page 284:

     The pseudonym “author of Jason with the golden fleece,” as he styles himself after his first book, has assumed the task of portraying the wrongs of his own time, and in this work he has had marked success in his “Nutidsbilleder,” which are written with spirit and ability.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpsɛu̯donɪm]

• Audio:

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pseudonym m inan

1. pseudonym

• “pseudonym”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “pseudonym”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “pseudonym”, in Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny (in Czech), 2012–2020
• “pseudonym”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /sœvdonyːm/, [sœwd̥oˈnyːˀm]

pseudonym n (singular definite pseudonymet, plural indefinite pseudonymer)

1. pseudonym

pseudonym

1. pseudonymous

• pseudonym on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Borrowed from French pseudonyme (“pseudonymous”, adjective), from Latin pseudōnymus (adjective), from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos, adjective, literally “having a false name”), from ψευδής (pseudḗs, “false”) +‎ ὄνῠμᾰ (ónŭmă, dialectal form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”)) +‎ -ος (-os, adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, pseudo- +‎ -onym.

• IPA^(key): [psɔɪ̯doˈnyːm]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

pseudonym (strong nominative masculine singular pseudonymer, not comparable)

1. pseudonymous

   Antonyms: alethonym, orthonym

pseudonym

1. pseudonymously, in a pseudonymous manner

• “pseudonym” in Duden online
• “pseudonym”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)

• psevdonym

From Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos).

pseudonym n (definite singular pseudonymet, indefinite plural pseudonym or pseudonymer, definite plural pseudonyma or pseudonymene)

1. pseudonym

• “pseudonym” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• psevdonym

From Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος (pseudṓnumos).

pseudonym n (definite singular pseudonymet, indefinite plural pseudonym, definite plural pseudonyma)

1. pseudonym

• “pseudonym” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.