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{{Redirect|Latin name|personal names in the Roman empire|Roman naming conventions}}
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The application of binomial nomenclature is now governed by various internationally agreed codes of rules, of which the two most important are [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]] for animals and the [[International Code of Botanical Nomenclature]] for plants. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are some differences in the terminology they use and their precise rules. For example:
*
* Both codes agree in calling the first part of the two-part name for a species the
▲* Both codes agree in calling the first part of the two-part name for a species the 'genus name'. However in zoological nomenclature the second part is called the 'species name', whereas in botanical nomenclature the second part is called the 'species epithet', and the term 'species name' should only be used for the whole name, i.e. the combination of the two parts.
The two-part name of a species is also commonly known as its '''Latin name''', since every two-part scientific name is either formed out of (modern scientific) [[Latin]] or is a Latinized version of words from other languages. However, [[biologist]]s and [[philologist]]s prefer to use the term '''scientific name''' rather than "Latin name", because the words used to create these names are not always from the Latin language, even though words from other languages have usually been Latinized in order to make them suitable for this purpose. Species names are often derived from [[Ancient Greek]] words, or words from numerous other languages. Frequently species names are based on the surname of a person, such as a well-regarded scientist, or are a Latinized version of a relevant place name.▼
Biologists, when using a name of a species, usually also give the authority and date of the species description. Thus zoologists will give the name of a particular sea snail species as: ''[[Patella vulgata]]'' Linnaeus, 1758. The name "Linnaeus" tells the reader who it was that described the species; 1758 is the date of the publication in which the original description can be found, in this case the book ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.
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== History ==
[[File:Carl von Linné.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Carolus Linnaeus]] (1707–1778), a Swedish botanist, invented the modern system of binomial nomenclature.]]
The adoption by biologists of a system of binomial nomenclature is due to [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[botanist]] and [[physician]] Carl von Linné, also known by his Latinized name [[Carolus Linnaeus]] (1707–1778). Linnaeus attempted to describe the entire known natural world. He chose a convenient short-hand binomial scheme for species,
== Value ==
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== Derivation ==
{{see also|list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names}}
▲The two-part name of a species is also commonly known as its '''Latin name''', since every two-part scientific name is either formed out of (modern scientific) [[Latin]] or is a Latinized version of words from other languages. However, [[biologist]]s and [[philologist]]s prefer to use the term '''scientific name''' rather than "Latin name", because the words used to create these names are not always from the Latin language, even though words from other languages have usually been Latinized in order to make them suitable for this purpose. Species names are often derived from [[Ancient Greek]] words, or words from numerous other languages. Frequently species names are based on the surname of a person, such as a well-regarded scientist, or are a Latinized version of a relevant place name.
The genus name and specific descriptor may come from any source. Often they are ordinary [[New Latin]] words, but they may also come from [[Ancient Greek]], from a place, from a person (often a naturalist), a name from the local language etc. In fact, taxonomists come up with specific descriptors from a variety of sources, including [[in-joke]]s and [[pun]]s. However, names are always treated grammatically as if they were a Latin phrase.
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