Eponym

English

Etymology

Greek επώνυμος from Æolic επί upon, to + όνομα name.

Noun

eponym (plural eponyms)

1. A person whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity.
2. A word formed from a person’s name, e.g. stentorian after the Greek herald Stentor.
3. The hero of a book, film etc. having the character’s name as its title, e.g. Robinson Crusoe.
4. (healthcare) A condition, disease or disorder named after a particular clinician or patient, e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, named after the neurologist Alois Alzheimer.

Adjective

eponymous

Of, relating to, or being the person after which something is named Robinson Crusoe is the eponymous hero of the book of the same name.

Usage notes

In strict usage, eponym refers to the original name upon which a word is based, and not to the word derived from that name. Ignoring capitalization issues, the term has also come to refer to the thing so named.

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