eponym
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Latin eponymus, from Ancient Greek ἐπώνῠμος (epṓnŭmos), from ἐπί (epí, “upon, epi-”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming adjectives and nouns). Equivalent to epi- + -nym.
Inflected forms:
form: eponyms
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: eponyme
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A person who gave or supposedly gave their name to a people, place, institution, etc.
pos: noun
examples: The Greeks and Romans tended to credit nearly every location and ethnicity to a legendary eponym, Hellas to Hellen, Rome to Romulus, Egypt to Aegyptus, etc.
Similar to the Greek eponymous archons and Roman consuls, the names of the annually appointed Assyrian limus were used for their years in office and they are accordingly also known as eponyms.
gloss: Something that is named after a person.
pos: noun
gloss: A name taken from a person, a namesake toponym, term, etc.
pos: noun
tags: proscribed
sometimes
examples: Alexandria is an eponym, taken from its founder Alexander the Great.
[Mesmer] lives on today as the root of the eponym mesmerize.
For their dubious contribution to literature, Doctor Bowdler and Henrietta were recognized with the eponym bowdlerize[.]
An eponym was once considered medicine’s highest honor. Like monuments to great generals, they paid tribute to medicine’s most brilliant minds, ensuring their names would live on in perpetuity.
gloss: A name or term derived from any proper noun, inclusive of places, brands, etc.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
proscribed
sometimes
examples: "Tangerine" is an eponym in reference to Tangier... The unflattering eponym "shanghai" derived from the behavior of American shippers, not the Chinese themselves...
gloss: Synonym of epitome, a person taken as a symbol or quintessential representative of some trait, school, etc.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: Rockefeller became the very eponym of wealth.
gloss: Synonym of epithet, a distinguishing title.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: It was only posthumously that Julian was distinguished with the eponym "Apostate".
Related words: aneponymous
eponymous
Derived words: eponymic
eponymical
eponymically
eponymism
eponymist
eponymize
eponymy
proprietary eponym
Translations:
lang: Belarusian
word: эпані́м
roman: epaním
lang: Bengali
word: ব্যক্তির নামে নামাঙ্কিত
roman: bêktir name namaṅkito
lang: Bulgarian
word: епоним
roman: eponim
lang: Catalan
word: epònim
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 名祖
roman: míngzǔ
lang: Czech
word: eponym
lang: Dutch
word: eponiem
lang: Dutch
word: naamgever
lang: Finnish
word: eponyymi
lang: French
word: éponyme
lang: German
word: Namensgeber
lang: German
word: Eponym
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἐπωνυμία
roman: epōnumía
lang: Hungarian
word: névadó
lang: Irish
word: eapainm
lang: Italian
word: eponimo
lang: Japanese
word: 名祖
roman: naoya
lang: Japanese
word: エポニム
roman: eponimu
lang: Korean
word: 명조
roman: myeongjo
lang: Latin
word: eponymus
lang: Malay
word: eponim
lang: Polish
word: eponim
lang: Portuguese
word: epónimo
lang: Portuguese
word: epônimo
lang: Russian
word: эпо́ним
roman: epónim
lang: Russian
word: эпони́м
roman: eponím
lang: Slovak
word: eponym
lang: Spanish
word: epónimo
lang: Swedish
word: eponym
lang: Telugu
word: నామకారకుడు
roman: nāmakārakuḍu
lang: Turkish
word: eponim
lang: Turkish
word: ad veren
lang: Ukrainian
word: епо́нім
roman: epónim