Talk:Eponym
From Academic Kids
I plan to move the list of eponyms to a new article where it can be made into categories. See the "Eponyms" section in the Lists of etymologies for an existing category-based listing. The list moved from this page could become the default alphabetically ordered list. Jay 17:48, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)
- Done. Was waiting for Wikipedia to complain about the 32 KB limit. Jay 09:58, 20 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I added an Internet link to a very useful site on medical eponyms (i.e. what did Dr James Parkinson do for a living apart from describing the hypokinetic-rigid syndrome named after him) Jfdwolff 10:53, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)
some discussions have been moved over to talk:list of eponyms
Eponymic vs. Eponymous
Are eponymic and eponymous synonyms? The article says to use "eponymic" as an adjective to describe the relationship of an object to its eponym, but I frequently use "eponymous". Am I wrong? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 16:19, Jun 11, 2004 (UTC)
- Yes, they are synonyms. Not sure if there is the British English/American English divide here though. Jay 08:04, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Misunderstood usage?
"Some books, films, and TV shows are eponymous with their principal character(s): Beavis and Butt-head and Daria, for example." "Are eponymous with" is an ungainly construction that shows its unfamiliarity with the term. Isn't the better usage that these books have eponymous heroes? This text (I haven't moved it from the article) seems oblivious to the passage that directly precedes it. --Wetman 16:20, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- Yes, "eponymous" is an adjective that applies to the person, not to the named item. AxelBoldt 22:03, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Incorrect definition?
I'm not sure the definition of eponym is correct. MSN Encarta lists it as being the person named after or the thing being named.
http://ca.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861608906/eponym.html
- The Oxford English Dictionary and Encyclopedia Britannica both agree with us that an eponym is the person, not the named thing. (Webster and WordNet both allow the named thing to be called an eponym as well.)
- However, I believe our definition is too narrow in that it requires the name of the person to be synonymous with the name of the item. With that strict definition, there are few eponyms. For instance, Alexander the Great would not qualify as an eponym of Alexandria, and neither would Avogadro be an eponym of Avogadro's contant. I think the definition given at list of eponyms is better. AxelBoldt 22:03, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
