eponym

Plural: eponyms

Noun

• A person, place, or thing after which something else is named.
• the person for whom something is named
  • "Constantine I is the eponym for Constantinople"
• the name derived from a person (real or imaginary)
  • "Down's syndrome is an eponym for the English physician John Down"
• A person who gave or supposedly gave their name to a people, place, institution, etc.
• Something that is named after a person.
• A name taken from a person, a namesake toponym, term, etc.
• A name or term derived from any proper noun, inclusive of places, brands, etc.
• Synonym of epitome, a person taken as a symbol or quintessential representative of some trait, school, etc.
• Synonym of epithet, a distinguishing title.

Examples

• "Tangerine" is an eponym in reference to Tangier... The unflattering eponym "shanghai" derived from the behavior of American shippers, not the Chinese themselves...
• Alexandria is an eponym, taken from its founder Alexander the Great.
• Charles Babbage is often considered an eponym for modern computing, just as a key tile can be an eponym for a winning play.
• It was only posthumously that Julian was distinguished with the eponym "Apostate".
• Rockefeller became the very eponym of wealth.
• 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 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.

Synonyms

epithet, epitome, namesake

Related Words

aneponymous, eponymous, EPONYMIC