VocabauraVOCABAURA

namesake

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A person with the same name as another.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

naymsayk

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈneɪmseɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A person with the same name as another

  2. One for whom another is named, often the parent or ancestor who gave the name to a child.

  3. An entity that lends its name to another entity.

  4. by extension

    Something (especially a ship, a building, or a medical condition, symptom, or sign) that is named after someone or something.

verb

  1. transitive

    To name (somebody) after somebody else.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A person with the same name as another

Used this way, namesake is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “namesake”. We review each one before it appears.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “namesake” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.