eponym
A person who gave or supposedly gave their name to a people, place, institution, etcA person who gave or supposedly gave their name to a people, place, institution, etc.
Meaning
6 sensesA person who gave or supposedly gave their name to a people, place, institution, etc.
The Greeks and Romans tended to credit nearly every location and ethnicity to a legendary eponym, Hellas to Hellen, Rome to Romulus, Egypt to Aegyptus, etc.
Similar to the Greek eponymous archons and Roman consuls, the names of the annually appointed Assyrian limus were used for their years in office and they are accordingly also known as eponyms.
the name derived from a person (real or imaginary)
Something that is named after a person.
the person for whom something is named
(proscribed, sometimes)A name taken from a person, a namesake toponym, term, etc.
Alexandria is an eponym, taken from its founder Alexander the Great.
Eponym
эпо́нимepónim, эпони́мeponím
епо́німepónim
(broadly, proscribed, sometimes)A name or term derived from any proper noun, inclusive of places, brands, etc.
"Tangerine" is an eponym in reference to Tangier... The unflattering eponym "shanghai" derived from the behavior of American shippers, not the Chinese themselves...
(archaic)Synonym of epitome, a person taken as a symbol or quintessential representative of some trait, school, etc.
Rockefeller became the very eponym of wealth.
(archaic)Synonym of epithet, a distinguishing title.
It was only posthumously that Julian was distinguished with the eponym "Apostate".
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Latin eponymus, from Ancient Greek ἐπώνῠμος (epṓnŭmos), from ἐπί (epí, “upon, epi-”)From Latin eponymus, from Ancient Greek ἐπώνῠμος (epṓnŭmos), from ἐπί (epí, “upon, epi-”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming adjectives and nouns). Equivalent to epi- + -nym.
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