# Common words derived from proper names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931 "2007-07-16T03:08:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eltanin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Eltanin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eltanin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/1 "2007-07-16T03:08:18Z")
The English word [“algorithm”](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=algorithm) derives from the medieval Latin word “algorismus,” which is a corrupted form of the name of the 9th century Islamic mathematician [Al-Khwarizmi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-khwarizmi). What other (reasonably) common words, in English or another language, derive from proper names in this way? [Perhaps this counts as a poll - I beg forgiveness if this be the case] ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/2 "2007-07-16T03:18:18Z")
you want eponyms to start with e.g. caesarian, doric, napoleonic see [List of eponymous adjectives in English - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponymous_adjectives_in_English) for some adjectives ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/3 "2007-07-16T03:31:14Z")
leotard bloomers newton faraday ohm watt ampere Lots of these in science… ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/4 "2007-07-16T03:32:27Z")
heres another list > **[News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines](https://www.aol.com/)** > > Discover the latest breaking news in the U.S. and around the world — politics, weather, entertainment, lifestyle, finance, sports and much more. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/5 "2007-07-16T03:33:04Z")
Political action words: boycott gerrymander ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/6 "2007-07-16T03:36:06Z")
Shrapnel. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/7 "2007-07-16T03:40:48Z")
quisling (n) a traitor, one who collaborates with an enemy. named for Vidkun Quisling who collaborated with the Nazi invasion of Norway. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/8 "2007-07-16T04:18:31Z")
There are so many of these that you could fill a book. Several books. [ul] [li]_Everyday words from names of people & places_, by Allan Wolk[/li][li]_What in the word?: origins of words dealing with people and places_, by David Muschell[/li][li]_Namesakes: an entertaining guide to the origins of more than 300 words named for people_, by Tad Tuleja. [/li][li]_The dictionary of eponyms: names that became words_, by Robert Hendrickson[/li][li]_A dictionary of eponyms_, by Cyril Leslie Beeching[/li][li]_Human words; the compleat unexpurgated, uncomputerized human wordbook_, by Robert Hendrickson[/li][li]_Melba toast, bowie’s knife & Caesar’s wife: a dictionary of eponyms_, by Martin H. Manser[/li][li]_Guppies in tuxedos: funny eponyms_, by Marvin Terban[/li][li]_A chartreuse leotard in a magenta limousine: and other words named after people and places_, by Lynda Graham-Barber[/li][li]_O thou improper, thou uncommon noun: a bobtailed, generally chronological listing of proper names that have become improper and uncommonly common, together with a smattering of proper names commonly used … and certain other diversions_, by Willard R. Espy[/li][li]_Dictionary of historical allusions & eponyms_, by Dorothy Auchter[/li][li]_Eponyms in psychology : a dictionary and biographical sourcebook_, by Leonard Zusne[/ul][/li] And there are as many again if you include dictionaries of medical eponyms. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/9 "2007-07-16T04:21:48Z")
Tivo, as in “I’ll Tivo it” or “I tivo’d it” ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/10 "2007-07-16T04:30:26Z")
Sideburns. Named after (in a backwards way) [General Ambrose Burnside](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Burnside). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/11 "2007-07-16T04:36:59Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] O thou improper, thou uncommon noun: a bobtailed, generally chronological listing of proper names that have become improper and uncommonly common, together with a smattering of proper names commonly used … and certain other diversions, by Willard R. Espy [/QUOTE] Drat! I opened the thread to post this. Great book! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/12 "2007-07-16T04:45:49Z")
Sandwich and the [4th Earl of Sandwich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montagu%2C_4th_Earl_of_Sandwich) Cardigan and the [7th Earl of Cardigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thomas_Brudenell%2C_7th_Earl_of_Cardigan) ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/13 "2007-07-16T05:42:22Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] Sandwich and the [4th Earl of Sandwich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montagu%2C_4th_Earl_of_Sandwich) Cardigan and the [7th Earl of Cardigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thomas_Brudenell%2C_7th_Earl_of_Cardigan) [/QUOTE] might have to call you on this one. Sandwich and Cardigan are both places - It is a bit like “The mayor of London”. Your case is probably more like a word named after a persons title - ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/14 "2007-07-16T06:14:47Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] might have to call you on this one. Sandwich and Cardigan are both places - It is a bit like “The mayor of London”. Your case is probably more like a word named after a persons title - [/QUOTE] Possibly. But titles (even those taken from place names) become identified with the person. Mention of Lord Sandwich or Lord Cardigan would have brought to mind the people themselves, not the places from which their titles were derived. And the sandwich and cardigan were named for the people who popularised them. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/15 "2007-07-16T10:02:27Z")
“crapper” and according to SNL - “douche bag.” ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/16 "2007-07-16T10:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] might have to call you on this one. Sandwich and Cardigan are both places - It is a bit like “The mayor of London”. Your case is probably more like a word named after a persons title - [/QUOTE] Isn’t the name of a place a proper noun as well? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/17 "2007-07-16T12:43:49Z")
Laconic Mercurial ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/18 "2007-07-16T15:50:35Z")
Willard Espy wrote [an entire book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0517535114/ref=dp_olp_2/105-8902311-7220466) on the subjet. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/19 "2007-07-16T15:57:20Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Willard Espy wrote [an entire book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0517535114/ref=dp_olp_2/105-8902311-7220466) on the subjet. [/QUOTE] > [@tomndebb](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase > > O thou improper, thou uncommon noun: a bobtailed, generally chronological listing of proper names that have become improper and uncommonly common, together with a smattering of proper names commonly used … and certain other diversions, by Willard R. Espy > > Drat! I opened the thread to post this. > > Great book! Jeez, Chuck. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931/20 "2007-07-16T16:02:09Z")
Stentorian - after Stentor, a great and forceful orator Draconian - after Draco, a harsh ruler [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-derived-from-proper-names/411931.md?page=2)