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eponym

 - 5 dictionary results

ep⋅o⋅nym

[ep-uh-nim]
–noun
1. a person, real or imaginary, from whom something, as a tribe, nation, or place, takes or is said to take its name: Brut, the supposed grandson of Aeneas, is the eponym of the Britons.
2. a word based on or derived from a person's name.
3. any ancient official whose name was used to designate his year of office.

Origin:
1840–50; back formation from eponymous


ep⋅o⋅nym⋅ic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ep·o·nym   (ěp'ə-nĭm')   
n.  
  1. A word or name derived from the name of a person. The words atlas, bowdlerize, and Turing machine are eponyms.

  2. A person whose name is or is thought to be the source of the name of something.


[French éponyme, from Greek epōnumos, named after : epi-, epi- + onoma, onuma, name; see n-men- in Indo-European roots.]
ep'o·nym'ic adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ep·onym
Pronunciation: 'ep-&-"nim
Function: noun
1 : the person for whom something (as a disease) is or is believed to benamed
2 : a name (as of a drug or a disease) based on or derived from the name of a person
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

eponym ep·o·nym (ěp'ə-nĭm')
n.
A name of a drug, structure, or disease based on or derived from the name of a person.


ep'o·nym'ic adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

eponym

one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named. The word can refer, for example, to the usually mythical ancestor or totem animal or object that a social group (such as a tribe) holds to be the origin of its name. In its most familiar use, eponym denotes a person for whom a place or thing is named, as in describing James Monroe as the eponym of Monrovia, Liberia. The derivative adjective is eponymous. An eponymous hero of a work of literature is one whose name is the title of the work, such as Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey, Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, and John Fowles's Daniel Martin.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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