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 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^[1], →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 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 (bêktir name namaṅkito)
• Bulgarian: епоним m (eponim)
• Catalan: epònim (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 名祖 (zh) (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”, in 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