✅ An alias is a false or assumed name, used to disguise a person’s identity. An alias can also be a name that a person has used at another point in time or in other circumstances (The spy used an alias while traveling).

✅ An anonym is an assumed name, generally used to disguise a person’s identity, but for possibly less villainous reasons. An anonym can also be an anonymous person or publication (She published her poetry under an anonym), in which case it is synonymous with pseudonym.

✅ Alias is a much more common word than anonym. Read more about anonym and other unusual words that end in -nym here!

Then write about someone who uses an anonym with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ A placename is the name of a geographical place (The placenames where she lived were long and hard to remember).

✅ A toponym is a name of a geographical place or a name derived from the name of a place (It’s trendy to use toponyms as baby names, like Georgia or Brooklyn).

✅ Placename and toponym mean the same thing, though toponym has a slightly broader meaning. In fact, toponym is literally translated as “placename” from Greek—top- “place,” and the suffix -nym (or -onym) meaning “name”!

✅ Placename is a more commonly used term than toponym.

Try writing about the origin of a toponym, with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ A synonym is a word that means the same, or nearly the same, as another word (Loud is a synonym for noisy).

✅ A metonym is a word or phrase that is used to stand in for a larger, related concept (The crown is a metonym for the royal family).

✅ A metonym is a kind of synonym, but synonym has a wider meaning.

✅ Lots of words ending in -nym have something to do with words or names, especially words and names that can stand in for others.

Try writing a sentence about something that you know by its metonym, with the help of Grammar Coach.