nome
UK[nəʊm]US[noʊm]
n
A territorial division of ancient Egypt; a province.
n
(often in names) A region or district, especially in modern Greece.
Etymology
The word 'nome' entered English in the late 16th century, borrowed directly from the Greek 'nomos', meaning a district or province, especially in ancient Egypt. The Greek term itself originally signified 'a place of pasture' or 'a dwelling place', derived from the verb 'nemein', meaning 'to deal out' or 'to manage'. This semantic evolution from the concept of managed land to an administrative district reflects the word's journey from describing a physical territory under stewardship to a formal political division.
Analysis
This word is a simplex loanword from Greek. It does not contain separable morphemes in its modern English form.
Examples
The ancient Egyptian kingdom was divided into administrative units called nomes.
The modern Greek nome of Attica includes the capital city of Athens.
Historians study the laws and customs specific to each nome.