Eponym (nonfiction)

An eponym is a person, a place, or thing for whom or for which something is named, or believed to be named.

Description

For example, Elizabeth I of England is the eponym of the Elizabethan era.

The adjectives derived from eponym, which include eponymous and eponymic, similarly refers to being the person or thing after whom something is named, as "the eponymous founder of the Ford Motor Company" refers to founder's being Henry Ford.

Recent usage, especially in the recorded-music industry, also allows eponymous to mean "named after its central character or creator".

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Name (nonfiction)