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

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 (byoktir 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