Definition of "cognomen" []

• A family name; a surname. (noun)
• The third and usually last name of a citizen of ancient Rome, as Caesar in Gaius Julius Caesar. (noun)
• A name, especially a descriptive nickname or epithet acquired through usage over a period of time. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Anderson: Lawyerly Type, your cognomen is mischosen."
• "I see that a daily paper in New York whose cognomen is borrowed from a very large object, has suggested that Secretary Seward should retire from Mr. Johnson's Cabinet in order to conciliate these Southern traitors, he being to them a very offensive object."
• "Colleen McCullough in her 'Masters of Rome' series managed the profusion of Julias using dimunitives (Julia, Julilla), nicknames (two little girls called Ju-ju and Lia) and a sort of 'cognomen' addition e.g."