Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 14:25:01 +0100 From: debaron[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UIUC.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 True, and so eponym is always defined, but the SOD defines eponymy as "the practice of explaining names of peoples, places, etc., by referring them to the name of a historical or mythical person." So I would be tempted to say that Frankenstein, in "I've created a Frankenstein," is an eponym, an example of eponymy. Perhaps what I am naming is an eponymonym. Dennis -- Dennis Baron debaron[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uiuc.edu Department of English office: 217-333-2392 University of Illinois fax: 217-333-4321 608 South Wright Street home: 217-384-1683 Urbana, Illinois 61801