Art & MusicGreek → English
Monogram
/ˈmɒnəɡræm/noun
Two or more initials combined into one design.
The Greek roots
μόνος
mónos
single, alone
γράμμα
grámma
letter, written mark
Literally: “single letter”
The story of the word
In Greek, μονόγραμμος described a picture done in outline only, a figure of nothing but lines. Late Latin turned the noun into a single character woven out of several letters, the kind of mark emperors and abbots used to sign with. English took that sense in the 17th century. The Chi-Rho carried on Constantine's standard is the most reproduced monogram ever cut.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
monolithgrammardiagrammonotone
In a sentence
His shirts came back from the laundry with somebody else's monogram on the cuff.