eponymous
Americanadjective
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named after the specified person, place, or thing, usually its founder, creator, inventor, discoverer, or source.
Having made her mark designing for major brands, she is launching a new, eponymous label.
Emperor Constantine modeled his eponymous city, Constantinople, after Rome.
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giving one’s name to a place or thing.
The novel’s eponymous protagonist is actually Dr. Frankenstein, not his monster.
Romulus killed Remus and became the eponymous founder of Rome.
adjective
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(of a person) being the person after whom a literary work, film, etc, is named
the eponymous heroine in the film of Jane Eyre
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(of a literary work, film, etc) named after its central character or creator
the Stooges' eponymous debut album
Usage
What does eponymous mean? Eponymous is used to describe someone who has given their name to something or has had something named after them, as in I met the eponymous owner of Sally’s Restaurant at the farmer’s market yesterday. Eponymous can also be used to describe works of art that are named after their creator or lead fictional character, as in In Robinson Crusoe, the eponymous lead character lives alone on a deserted island for 28 years. Eponymous is a fancy word used to describe things (restaurants, books, movies, etc.) that are named after a person. One of the more common uses of eponymous is in articles or stories about the history of something that’s named after a person who is still alive or involved. For example, Walt E. Disney created his eponymous company, The Walt Disney Company. Eponym refers to the person something is named after. The Amazon tribe, a mythical Greek tribe, is the eponym of the Amazon River in South America. Example: The movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows stars the eponymous detective in his most dangerous case yet!
Other Word Forms
- eponymously adverb
Etymology
Origin of eponymous
First recorded in 1840–50; from Greek epṓnymos “given as a name”; see ep-, -onym, -ous
Explanation
When something is eponymous, it takes its own name as its title. For example, Foo Fighters' first album was eponymous — it was called "Foo Fighters." It's interesting that books are almost never eponymous. For instance, Herman Melville never wrote a story or a novel called "Herman Melville," and Dickens never titled any of his novels "Charles Dickens." But singers and bands often name at least one of their albums or CDs after themselves. The same goes for TV shows. Think of "Roseanne." Her eponymous show was called, obviously, "Roseanne." Sometimes there's a pun in the name. For example, the Doral Company is named for its founders, Doris and Al. Is that eponymous? You tell me...
Vocabulary lists containing eponymous
Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages
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Latin Love, Vol II: nominare
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This Week in Pop Culture: December 8 -14, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gregg Allman, the soulful voice behind “Whipping Post” and “Midnight Rider,” passed away in 2017, three years after his eponymous band called it quits.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
Estée Lauder bought Malone's eponymous perfume brand, Jo Malone London, including the rights to her name, in 1999.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
The Battle Creek Sanitarium, a world-renowned health spa in the eponymous Michigan city, drew fans of what today we’d call wellness culture.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
MBaer was founded in 2018 by Michael Baer, the great-grandson of Julius Baer, who founded that eponymous bank.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 26, 2026
He was not saved by these efforts, though, but by a curious stipulation in the terms laid down by Henry Lucas for his eponymous chair.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
