An eponym is a word derived from a name. The name can be from a real person or a character in a novel or a mythical god, a biblical character and so forth. The thing that is named can be a disease or a plant or a star or a mountain – just about anything that can have a name. However for the word to be truly eponymous it has to stray from the realm of being a proper name to the realm of being a word in the language. A good example is the word “panic.” It derives from the name of the Greek God of Nature, Pan. It is believed to originally refer to the emotion that can accompany the act of entering the woods or a forest after dark.

We will try to keep this Dictionary of Eponyms up-to-date. It’s pages are:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I to J – K to L – M – N to O – P – Q to R – S – T – U to Z