eponym

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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

eponym (plural eponyms)

  1. A real or fictitious person or thing whose name 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[.]
    • 2023 June 19, Rachel E. Gross, “Should Medicine Still Bother With Eponyms?”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      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.
  3. (loosely, nonstandard, by extension) A word formed from the name of a real or fictive place or thing.
    Synonym: toponym
    “Tangerine” is an eponym of Tangier.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

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
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