Date:  Wed, 5 Apr 1995 12:53:09 -0400

From:  David Muschell <dmuschel[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU>

Subject: Re: names to nouns



>>>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

>>

>> Machiavelli would by the eponym as the source for "Machiavellian," but

>> "hamburger" would be a toponym, derived _from_ the name of a place.

>> David

>

>Is there also a converse for "namesake"? I've wondered about that before.

>  --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)



I'm not sure what you mean by "converse." When someone or something is

given a name for "the name's sake," even when that name is an eponym or

toponym, it is still a "namesake" naming: Nevada Smith, "in a New York

minute," Pecos Bill, Tex Ritter.