Endonym
/ˈɛn.də.nɪm/noun
A name used by a people or place for themselves or their own territory, rather than a name imposed or used by outsiders.
Did you know?“Endonym” is paired with “exonym”: Greeks call their country Hellas, while “Greece” is the English exonym inherited through Latin and French.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁nómn̥
“Name; a designation by which someone or something is known”
Ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit
nā́man
“Name; an early Indo-European cognate”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ónoma (ὄνομα)
“Name or word used as a designation”
Ancient Greek
Greek
éndon (ἔνδον) + ónoma
“Within + name; the components later used to form the modern scholarly term”
20th Century
English
endonym
“A technical term for a name used within the community or place being named”
Modern English
English
endonym
“A self-designation, especially the native name of a country, people, or geographical feature”