Standard Lemma guide

endonym

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈɛndə(ʊ)nɪm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈɛndəˌnɪm/
  • US: /ˈɛndoʊˌnɪm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A name used by a group or category of people (an ingroup) to refer to themselves or their language, as opposed to a name given to them by other groups (outgroups).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: autonym, selfname

Antonyms: exonym, xenonym

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1n̥dóm Proto-Hellenic *éndon Ancient Greek ἔνδον (éndon)der. English endo- Proto-Indo-European *h1nómn̥ Proto-Graeco-Phrygian *ónomã Proto-Indo-European *h1nómn̥ Proto-Hellenic *ónomə Ancient Greek ὄνῠμᾰ (ónŭmă)der. New Latinder. English -onym English endonym From endo- (“inside”) + -onym (“name”).

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: endònim — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 當地地名 /当地地名 (dāngdì dìmíng) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Czech: endonymum — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Dutch: endoniem — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Esperanto: endonimo — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Estonian: endonüüm — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Finnish: endonyymi — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • French: endonyme — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Galician: endónimo — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Georgian: თვითდასახელება (tvitdasaxeleba) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Georgian: ენდონიმი (endonimi) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • German: Eigenbezeichnung — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • German: Endonym — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Hungarian: endonima — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Italian: endonimo — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Japanese: 内名 (naimei) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Japanese: エンドニム (endonimu) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Macedonian: ендоним (endonim) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Persian: نام داخلی (nâm-e dâxeli) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Polish: endonim — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Portuguese: endônimo — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Portuguese: endónimo — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Romanian: endonim — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Russian: эндо́ним (endónim) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Russian: самоназва́ние (samonazvánije) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Russian: автоэтно́ним (avtoetnónim) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Spanish: endónimo — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Swedish: endonym — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Swedish: autonym — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Ukrainian: самона́зва (samonázva) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Ukrainian: ендо́нім (endónim) — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language
  • Vietnamese: nội danh — a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language