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Eponym

An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include eponymous and eponymic.

"Eponymous" redirects here. For the album, see Eponymous (album). "Self-titled" redirects here. For other uses, see Self-titled (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Namesake.

Usage of the word[edit]

The term eponym[2][3] functions in multiple related ways, all based on an explicit relationship between two named things. A person, place, or thing named after a particular person share an eponymous relationship. In this way, Elizabeth I of England is the eponym of the Elizabethan era, but the Elizabethan era can also be referred to as the eponym of Elizabeth I of England.


When Henry Ford is referred to as "the eponymous founder of the Ford Motor Company", his surname "Ford" and the name of the motor company have an eponymous relationship. The word "eponym" can also refer to the title character of a fictional work (such as Rocky Balboa of the Rocky film series), as well as to self-titled works named after their creators (such as the album The Doors by the band the Doors).


Walt Disney created the eponymous Walt Disney Company, with his name similarly extended to theme parks such as Walt Disney World.[4][5][6][7] Medical eponymous terms are often called medical eponyms although that usage is deprecable.

One of the first recorded cases of eponymy occurred in the second millennium BC, when the named each year after a high official (limmu).

Assyrians

In , the eponymous archon was the highest magistrate in classical Athens. Eponymous archons served a term of one year which took the name of that particular archon (e.g., 594 BC was named after Solon). Later historians provided yet another case of eponymy by referring to the period of fifth-century Athens as The Age of Pericles after its most influential statesman Pericles.

ancient Greece

In , the head priest of the Cult of Alexander and the Ptolemies was the eponymous priest after whom years were named.

Ptolemaic Egypt

The explains the origins of peoples through individuals who bear their name. Jacob is renamed "Israel" (Gen 35:9) and his sons (or grandsons) name the original 12 tribes of Israel, while Edomites (Gen. 25:30), Moabites and Ammonites (Gen. 19:30-38), Canaanites (Gen. 9:20-27) and other tribes (the Kenites named after Cain (Cain's life is detailed in Gen. 4:1-16)) are said to be named after other primal ancestors bearing their name. In most cases, the experiences and behavior of the ancestor is meant to indicate the characteristics of the people who take their name.

Hebrew Bible

In , one of the two formal ways of indicating a year was to cite the two annual consuls who served in that year. For example, the year we know as 59 BC would have been described as "the consulship of Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus and Gaius Julius Caesar" (although that specific year was known jocularly as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar" because of the insignificance of Caesar's counterpart). Under the empire, the consuls would change as often as every two months, but only the two consuls at the beginning of the year would lend their names to that year.

ancient Rome

During the , itself eponymous, many royal households used eponymous dating by regnal years. The Roman Catholic Church, however, eventually used the Anno Domini dating scheme - based on the birth of Christ - on both the general public and royalty. The regnal year standard is still used with respect to statutes and law reports published in some parts of the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries (England abandoned this practice in 1963).

Christian era

Government administrations may become referred to eponymously, such as and the Nixon Era.

Kennedy's Camelot

British monarchs have become eponymous throughout the English-speaking world for time periods, fashions, etc. , Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian are examples of these.

Elizabethan

Periods have often been named after a ruler or other influential figure:


Trends

In , an eponym can refer to a generic trademark or brand name, a form of metonymy, such as aspirin,[8] heroin[9] and thermos[10] in the United States.

intellectual property law

In geography, places and towns can also be given an eponymous name through a relationship to an important figure. , for instance, was said to derive its name from the Greek hero Pelops. In historical times, new towns have often been named (and older communities renamed) after their founders, discoverers, or notable individuals. Examples include Vancouver, British Columbia, named after explorer George Vancouver; and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, originally called Isbister's Settlement but renamed after Queen Victoria's husband and consort in 1866.

Peloponnesus

Avogadro constant

The Odyssey

In tribal antiquity, both in ancient Greece and independently among the Hebrews, tribes often took the name of a legendary leader (as for Achaeans, or Dorus for Dorians). The eponym gave apparent meaning to the mysterious names of tribes, and sometimes, as in the Sons of Noah, provided a primitive attempt at ethnology as well, in the genealogical relationships of eponymous originators.

Achaeus

Because are capitalized in English, the usual default for eponyms is to capitalize the eponymous part of a term. When used as proper adjectives they are normally capitalized, for example Victorian, Shakespearean, and Kafkaesque.[14][15]

proper nouns

However, some eponymous adjectives and are nowadays entered in many dictionaries as lowercase when they have evolved a common status, no longer deriving their meaning from the proper-noun origin.[16] For example, Herculean when referring to Hercules himself, but often herculean when referring to the figurative, generalized extension sense;[16] and quixotic and diesel engine [lowercase only].[16][17] For any given term, one dictionary may enter only lowercase or only cap, whereas other dictionaries may recognize the capitalized version as a variant, either equally common as, or less common than, the first-listed styling (marked with labels such as "or", "also", "often", or "sometimes"). The Chicago Manual of Style, in its section "Words derived from proper names",[18] gives some examples of both lowercase and capitalized stylings, including a few terms styled both ways, and says, "Authors and editors must decide for themselves, but whatever choice is made should be followed consistently throughout a work."

noun adjuncts

When the eponym is used together with a noun, the common-noun part is not capitalized (unless it is part of a title or it is the first word in a sentence). For example, in Parkinson disease (named after ), Parkinson is capitalized, but disease is not. In addition, the adjectival form, where one exists, is usually lowercased for medical terms (thus parkinsonian although Parkinson disease),[19] and gram-negative, gram-positive although Gram stain.[20] Uppercase Gram-positive or Gram-negative however are also commonly used in scientific journal articles and publications.[21][22][23] In other fields, the eponym derivative is commonly capitalized, for example, Newtonian in physics,[24][25] and Platonic in philosophy (however, use lowercase platonic when describing love).[14] The capitalization is retained after a prefix and hyphen, e.g. non-Newtonian.[14]

James Parkinson

List of eponyms (A–K)

List of eponyms (L–Z)

By person's name


By category

Antonomasia

Archetypal name

Demonym

Eponymous hairstyles

Ethnonym

Etymology

Lists of etymologies

False etymology

Genericized trademark

List of eponymous laws

Medical eponyms

Metonym

Name reaction

texts falsely attributed to and named after someone who is not the author

Pseudepigrapha

Stigler's law of eponymy

Territorial designation

Toponym

at Fun-with-Words.com

Definitions of -nym words

a database of medical eponyms

WhoNamedIt.com

Eponyms explored, BBC ideas, 2019