eponymous

adjective

epon·​y·​mous i-ˈpä-nə-məs 

e-

: of, relating to, or being the person or thing for whom or which something is named : of, relating to, or being an eponym

Did you know?

What’s in a name? If the name is eponymous, a name is in the name: an eponymous brand, café, river, or ice cream is named for someone or something. And because English is beastly sometimes, the one lending the name to the brand, café, river, or ice cream can also be described as eponymous. This means that if Noah Webster owns a bookstore called “Webster’s Books,” it’s an eponymous bookstore, and Noah himself is the bookstore’s eponymous owner. Most of the time, though, we see eponymous describing a thing named for a person—for example, an eponymous brand named for a designer, or a band’s eponymous album titled only with the band’s name. The related word eponym is less ambiguous: it refers to the one for whom someone or something is named. At our hypothetical “Webster’s Books,” Noah Webster is the bookstore’s eponym. Appropriately enough, the Greek root of both words is onyma, meaning “name.”

Examples of eponymous in a Sentence

… Ramayana, an Indian epic which chronicles, in sixty thousand verses, the adventures of its eponymous hero Rama … —Leila Hadley, Give Me the World, (1958) 1999

"Cool Britannia," which goes back to Ben and Jerry's eponymous ice cream in Spring 1996, met its sell-by-date within weeks … —Harold Perkin, Times Literary Supplement, 18 Dec. 1998

Karen Hubert Allison, the eponymous (if you count middle names) creator of Hubert's, didn't know she was making dining history … —Peter Kaminsky, New York Times Book Review, 11 May 1997

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the series managed to expand beyond its eponymous protagonist, introducing us to new characters and re-introducing us to old, like Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly). —Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Sep. 2025

The vengeful, eponymous matriarch, played by German actress Maja Tervooren (Maren Eggert), has killed her children and attempts to present their bloodied corpses to her husband Jason, embodied fiercely by French-Senegalese star Nourou Cissokho (Jean-Christophe Folly). —Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 28 Sep. 2025

Today, Jose Cuervo is the largest tequila producer in the world, and its historic distillery, in the eponymous town of Tequila, offers a fascinating look at the drink’s complexities. —David Shortell, Travel + Leisure, 28 Sep. 2025

After fashion designer Ulla Johnson launched her eponymous label in 1999, the brand swiftly became synonymous with an elegant slant of downtown free-spirited chic. —Elizabeth Kiefer, Architectural Digest, 26 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see eponym

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for eponymous

• anonymous
• autonomous
• economise
• synonymous

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Medical Definition

eponymous

adjective

epon·​y·​mous i-ˈpän-ə-məs, e- 

: of, relating to, or named after an eponym

those eponymous genetic conditions … such as … Friedreich's ataxia

—R. O. Brady