endonym means A name used by a group or category of people (an ingroup) to refer to themselves or their language, as opposed to a name given to them by other groups (outgroups).
endonym is pronounced /ˈɛndə(ʊ)nɪm/.
Why “endonym” is a great word
A name for a place, people, or language used by the group itself, as opposed to one given by outsiders. From the Greek endo- ("inside") and -onym ("name"), formed within English by derivation. Unlike an exonym—an outsider’s label, like “Germany” for *Deutschland*—or an autonym—a self-chosen name asserting identity—an endonym is simply the name spoken in the kitchen, the name that needs no translation. It is the syllables a grandmother uses for her village, the word children learn before they learn the word for "name," the quiet correction of a mispronounced “Gypsy” to Romany—the sound a people make in their own throat as home.
Etymology
From endo- (“inside”) + -onym (“name”).
noun
- A name used by a group or category of people (an ingroup) to refer to themselves or their language, as opposed to a name given to them by other groups (outgroups).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.