Nomenclature is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. It is a way of giving names to things within a particular profession or field. The principles of naming vary depending on the field, but the scientific need for simple, stable, and internationally accepted systems for naming objects of the natural world has generated many formal nomenclatural systems. The study of proper names is known as onomastics, which encompasses all names, languages, and geographical regions, as well as cultural areas. In a strictly scientific sense, nomenclature is regarded as a part of taxonomy (though distinct from it) . The precision demanded by science in the accurate naming of objects in the natural world has resulted in a variety of codes of nomenclature (worldwide-accepted sets of rules on biological classification) .

Examples of nomenclature include binomial nomenclature in biology, which refers to the way of referring to living things by two names, like calling humans Homo sapiens. The Linnaean system of binomial nomenclature was established in the 1750s by Carlos Linnaeus, and it is used to indicate the species to which an organism belongs. The system uses two words, the genus and species names, which are Latinized words derived from various sources.

Overall, nomenclature is a way of assigning names to things within a particular field, and it is an important aspect of scientific classification and communication.