eponym / eponymous

[Archived Topic]

"Eponymous" according to the OED means the person place or thing giving its name to another, e.g., if there is a shop called "John Smith", the person whose name was used for the shop might be described as the "eponymous John Smith". In the last one or two years , the word is seen in the media, mostly describing the shop, restaurant, whatever, that is named after someone. So Mary Ann is said to have "an eponymous restaurant", for example. Does anyone know if this use has any authority, or is it just a solecism, or at least an instance of media illiteracy.?

Gladys Srivastava, Vancouver, Canada

Submitted by ( - )

[Archived Reply]

I can remember seeing this term more frequently after REM released its eponymous lp (if anyone remembers those). This may be a starting point for the current usage. Ian Patrick Ottawa, Canada

Reply from ( - )

[sandra sweeney]

Hello All,
I have read the former posts on the subject of eponymous adjectives and have looked at several lists including the ones mentioned in the former posts. What I'm trying to do is to form the eponymous adective for the name Catherine. I had thought perhaps to leave the form the same as the noun but changing the pronunciation by making the "i" long (no phonetic alphabet available so by example to sound like the "i" in Argentine). Then I thought readers might stumble so I thought of Catherinian (which looks bad and sounds worse) and settled on Catherinesque. Any thoughts?
Sandra

[trolley]

Welcome Sandra. Catherinic? I actually like Catherinian. I've heard that the Catherinian period was great.

[Erik_Kowal]

As John/trolley implies, 'Catherinian' is the usual adjective pertaining to Catherine the Great of Russia or the era in which she reigned.

That said, I rather like the sound of 'Catherinesque'. Most of the other possibilities I can think of sound pretty outlandish:

Catherinoid
Catherinoidal
Catherinic
Catherinical
Catherinite
Catherinotic
Catherinific
Catherinifical
Catherinaceous
Catherinist
Catherinistic
Catherinistical
Catherinal

[Edwin F Ashworth]

Catherine as a modifier, as in Catherine Wheel, does not change its pronunciation.
Yet.

[Erik_Kowal]

What is the answer of your wife Catherine to Sandra's question, Edwin?

[trolley]

Yes, we need some Cathwardly direction.

[Edwin F Ashworth]

She refuses to re-invent the wheel.

[Erik_Kowal]

On the other hand, she seems perfectly happy to set fire to it. If that's not doubly inventive I don't know what is.

[Phil White]

At the risk of upsetting a new member, there's always "catty".

[longstockinggirl]

I can sit on the fence with this one. "Catherine" has been a family name for many generations. We use "Catherine" to describe a positive ("That was a very 'Catherine' thing to do"). Of course, there is/was "Catty" when any of us were in trouble/did something negative. Although I agree with Erik and like "Catherinesque," I am accustomed to using "Catherine" as-is for a modifier.
:-)

[Edwin F Ashworth]

Yes, Catherine readily modifies but resists modification.

[Erik_Kowal]

I feel this is a cathartic moment.

[PhilHunt]

I'm planning on putting a lesson together on 'English words that derive from peoples names and have become standard English', sometimes known as eponyms. An example could be Sadist, Marxist, Machiavelian, Maverick etc...

Can anyone think of more to add to the list. If the word derives from an English-speaking-countryman/woman, all the better.

Thanks