Definition of "mononym"
mononym
noun
plural mononyms
A single name by which a person, thing, etc., is known.
Quotations
Briefly, the adoption of calcar is a logical corollary of the recommendation which is common to the reports of all four American committees, vi., "Other things being equal, it is recommended that mononyms be preferred to polynyms." Calcar avis is a polyonym ; calcar is a mononym. If it be said that unguis is also a mononym, the answer is that in this case "other things" would not be equal, because (1) no general preference has ever been shown for it or for any term of which it is a constituent; (2) there would be lost the advantage of the correlation now existing between the ental ridge and the fissure collacated therewith.
1898, Biological lectures delivered at the Marine Biological Laboratory of .Wood's Holl [sic].
A single term for a thing or concept, allowing for no synonyms.
Quotations
ISO 704 and ISO 1087 prescribe mononymy as highly desirable for standardized terminologies, but as experience shows, individuals in developing disciplines (having unsettled terminology) are rarely able to agree on mononyms.
1993, Richard Alan Strehlow, Sue Ellen Wright, Standardizing Terminology for Better Communication