monogram

Meanings

Noun

• A picture drawn in line only, before the colour and/or shading is applied; an outline sketch.
• A sentence consisting of only one line, or an epigram consisting of only one verse, of poetry.
• A design composed of one or more letters, often intertwined, used as an identifying mark of an individual or institution.

Verb

• To mark something with a monogram.

Origin

• From French monogramme, from the Classical Latin adjective monogrammus, from the conjectured Ancient Greek * μονόγραμμος.
• Formed as mono- + -gram, by analogy with epigram.
• The noun derives from the post-Classical Latin monogrammum, itself from the Byzantine Greek μονόγραμμον; compare the French and Middle French monogramme, as well as the Italian monogramma. The verb derives from the noun; compare the earlier adjective monogrammed and the slightly earlier noun monogramming.