A word or name derived from the name of a person. The words atlas, bowdlerize, and Turing machine are eponyms.
A toponym is a name used to recall or honor other places.
I have done some extensive research on the various "-nyms", but I am still a bit unsure about the difference between
EPONYM and TOPONYM.
Am I correct, that an eponym is a person whom a place is named after,
and a toponym a place named after a person or another place?
Would Athens be a toponym, because it is named after the Greek goddess Athena, and would Athena be an eponym, because the city is named for her.
4 answers
You're right about eponyms. Athena is the eponym, as is Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska).
A toponym is a word named for a place. Note the examples given in this site, spartan and marathon, among others.
http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/toponymterm.htm
A toponym is a word named for a place. Note the examples given in this site, spartan and marathon, among others.
http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/toponymterm.htm
Thank you Ms. Sue and Anonymous.
You're welcome, E.G.