adnomination means A form of wordplay in which phonetically similar words are juxtaposed. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why “adnomination” is a great word
ADNOMINATION — [Noun] A rhetorical figure involving the deliberate repetition of words with the same root or the artful juxtaposition of phonetically similar words. From Latin adnōminātiō, adnōminātiōn- (a playing on words, paronomasia), from ad- (to) + nōmen, nōmin- (name, word). Unlike alliteration, which repeats initial consonant sounds, or paronomasia, a broader term for punning, adnomination is the specific, obsessive return to a single lexical source. It is the politician’s careful distinction between a “builder” and a “rebuilder,” the weary lover’s lament that “when it is not wanting, it is wanting,” and the cruel irony in a friend’s friendly betrayal. It is language turning in upon itself, finding a deeper resonance in the echo of its own ghosts.
Etymology
From Latin ad nōmen + -tion.
noun
- A form of wordplay in which phonetically similar words are juxtaposed.“The flurry of adnomination (varying a "root" term with prefixes and suffixes, as "luminous," by a kind of home etymology, is turned into "voluminous") — this flurry of punning settles into a joke out of a farce...”