eponym

eponym

English

WOTD – 18 November 2006

Etymology

Back-formation from eponymous. See also -onym.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛpənɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

Examples
Alzheimer's disease from Alois Alzheimer boycott from Charles Boycott Columbia from Christopher Columbus sandwich from Earl of Sandwich Victorian from Victoria

eponym (plural eponyms)

1. A real or fictitious person's name that has given rise to the name of a particular item.

   Romulus is the eponym of Rome.

2. A word formed from a real or fictive person’s name.

   Synonym: namesake

   Rome is an eponym of Romulus.

   • 2004, Bill Sherk, 500 Years of New Words, →ISBN:

     [Mesmer] lives on today as the root of the eponym mesmerize.

   • 2015, Robert B. Taylor, What Every Medical Writer Needs to Know, →ISBN:

     For their dubious contribution to literature, Doctor Bowdler and Henrietta were recognized with the eponym bowdlerize[.]

3. (loosely, nonstandard, by extension) A word formed from a real or fictive place or thing.

   Synonym: toponym

   “Tangerine” is an eponym of Tangier.

Derived terms

• proprietary eponym

Related terms

• eponymous

Translations

person's name that has given rise to the name of something

Belarusian: эпані́м m (epaním) Bengali: ব্যক্তির নামে নামাঙ্কিত (bẏôktir name namaṅkit) Bulgarian: епоним m (eponim) Catalan: epònim (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 名祖 (míngzǔ) Czech: eponymum n Dutch: eponiem (nl) n, naamgever (nl) m Finnish: eponyymi French: éponyme (fr) m German: Namensgeber m, Eponym (de) n Hungarian: névadó (hu) Irish: eapainm m Italian: eponimo (it) m Japanese: 名祖 (なおや, naoya), エポニム (eponimu) Korean: 명조 (ko) (myeongjo) Malay: eponim Polish: eponim (pl) m Portuguese: epónimo m (Portugal), epônimo (pt) m (Brazil) Russian: эпо́ним (ru) m (epónim), эпони́м (ru) m (eponím) Spanish: epónimo (es) m Swedish: eponym (sv) c Telugu: నామకారకుడు (nāmakārakuḍu) Turkish: (psychology) eponim, ad veren Ukrainian: епо́нім m (epónim)

word formed from a person’s name

Belarusian: эпані́м m (epaním) Bulgarian: епоним m (eponim) Dutch: eponiem (nl) n French: éponyme (fr) m German: Eponym (de) n Hungarian: eponima Italian: eponimo (it) m Polish: eponim (pl) m Portuguese: epónimo m (Portugal), epônimo (pt) m (Brazil) Russian: эпо́ним (ru) m (epónim), эпони́м (ru) m (eponím) Spanish: epónimo (es) m Swedish: eponym (sv) c Ukrainian: епо́нім m (epónim)

See also

• Category:English eponyms

Further reading

• eponym on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• eponym at OneLook Dictionary Search

---

Swedish

Noun

eponym c

1. eponym

Declension

Declension of eponym
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	eponym	eponymen	eponymer	eponymerna
Genitive	eponyms	eponymens	eponymers	eponymernas