What is an Eponym?
An eponym is a person's name on which a common noun is based, for example "nicotine" was named after Jean Nicot (1530-1600), who purportedly introduced tobacco to France. Another way of saying the same thing is that "nicotine" is a commonization of "Nicot" plus the suffix -ine.
Back to English Grammar & Style
Other Resources You Might Enjoy
- The 100 Funniest Words in English
What are the words that always get a smile? - The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English
Words for those special moments, poems, letters, or any other writing where beauty counts. - Rebel-Yankee Test
If you liked the dictionary, you would probably enjoy taking Rebel-Yankee Test as much as the 5 million people who have already taken it. - Glossary of Rhyming Compounds
Some of the funniest words in English are rhyming couplets like sing-song, willy-nilly, and dilly-dally. Learn more about them here. - Glossary of Eponyms
Words that come from the names of people. - Phobias, Philias, and Manias
Here they all are. Of course, new ones are made up every day. - Paraprosdokians
Garden path sentences that lead us in the wrong direction. - Parsiflage:
When insults had class - Glossary of Folk Etymology
Foreign words we change to sound more like English.
