eponym
a person, real or imaginary, from whom a place or thing takes or is said to take its name: Brut, the supposed grandson of Aeneas, is the eponym of the Britons.
a word based on or derived from a person's name.
any ancient official whose name was used to designate his year of office.
Origin of eponym
1Other words from eponym
- ep·o·nym·ic [ep-uh-nim-ik], /ˌɛp əˈnɪm ɪk/, adjective
Words Nearby eponym
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use eponym in a sentence
Scyld, on the other hand, is in the first place probably a mere eponym of the power of the Scylding kings of Denmark.
Beowulf | R. W. ChambersXanthus, however, puts Torrhebus in the place of Tyrsenus, and makes him the eponym of a district in Lydia.
As for this eponym thing, why Saint Augustine called attention to it fifteen hundred years ago.
The Damnation of Theron Ware | Harold FredericThis, however, as we learn from the eponym Canon, was not all.
The Expositor's Bible | F. W. FarrarThe case is different with Herakles, the patron, eponym, and ancestor of Dorian Hellas.
A Problem in Greek Ethics | John Addington Symonds
British Dictionary definitions for eponym
/ (ˈɛpəˌnɪm) /
a name, esp a place name, derived from the name of a real or mythical person, as for example Constantinople from Constantine I
the name of the person from which such a name is derived: in the Middle Ages, "Brutus" was thought to be the eponym of "Britain"
Origin of eponym
1Derived forms of eponym
- eponymic, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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