eponymous

adjective

epon·y·mous i-ˈpä-nə-məs

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

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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.”

Example Sentences

… 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 Pictures Classics Loosely based on Georges Bizet’s eponymous opera, this film revels in stylistic excesses that are always creative and often exhilarating. —

Odie Henderson, BostonGlobe.com, 4 May 2023 The Cyberster's curvy design is fairly similar to that of the eponymous 2021 concept car, even keeping the wild scissor doors. —

Caleb Miller, Car and Driver, 19 Apr. 2023 Michelin guides were originally a promotional freebie from the eponymous French tire company. —

Molly Mcardle, Travel + Leisure, 10 Apr. 2023 Get It: Chiang Mai Dragon, F. Schumacher & Co. (to the trade) Greek Key Wallpaper The eponymous motif has been around since the ancient Greeks built their empire. —

Caitlin Sole, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Mar. 2023 The store’s owner Chandler Guttersen is a dead ringer for Claudia Schiffer who knows her way around ’50s-era Christian Dior, the splashy prints of Stephen Sprouse, and the heyday of Karl Lagerfeld’s eponymous label. —

Liana Satenstein, Vogue, 24 Mar. 2023 Levi heads the franchise as the eponymous superhero. —

Zack Sharf, Variety, 21 Mar. 2023 Some examples of store brands include Costco's Kirkland Signature, Walmart's Great Value, Whole Foods' 365, and Trader Joe's eponymous label. —

Amanda Pérez Pintado, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2023 Oscar nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture Based on the eponymous 2018 novel, director Sarah Polley delivers an uncomfortably irresistible and complex depiction of women's agency in the face of patriarchal domination. —

Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 10 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'eponymous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.