Date:  Wed, 5 Apr 1995 13:22:33 EDT

From:  Terry Lynn Irons <t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MSUACAD.MOREHEAD-ST.EDU>

Subject: Re: names to nouns



>

> >Wouldn't Machiavelli and Hamburg be the eponyms of 'Machiavellian' and 'ham-

> >burger' rather than the latter being eponyms? I think of 'eponym' as being

 kin to 'namesake' rather than to its converse, which is what we need here.

  Larry

>

Perhaps in ignorance I have tended to use 'eponym' to refer to the noun

derived from the name. In fact, the second entry in AHD, 3rd, states that

an eponym is "A name of a drug, structure, or disease based on or derived

from the name of a person." The eytmology, I would suggest, supports

that latter usage over the first, that is epi + onoma, after named. The

thing is named after the person, hence is an epi onoma or eponym.



Terry





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Terry Lynn Irons    t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]msuacad.morehead-st.edu

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