alphadictionary.com
Eponyms
(E?)(L?) http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/eponyms/index.html
What is an Eponym?
An eponym as we will use the term here is an ordinary common noun derived from a proper noun, the name of a person or place. Words like "quisling", "sandwich", and "silhouette" are solid eponyms. Some eponymous words are still capitalized like a proper noun, so those not capitalized are most clearly eponyms. The important, defining property is that the word does not refer exclusively to the person or place named by the proper noun, as does "Marxism" or "Christian", but is used to refer to a general category, as do "quisling", "boycott" and "fuchsias". The ability to undergo inflection such as the plural ("Pullmans") is also an indication of the strict eponymous status of a word.
What isn't an Eponym?
Many lists on the Web contain phrases and words that are common phrases or ordinary derivations. While the term eponym is often extended to such constructions, their interpretation is usually more a matter of history than etymology, which is our focus. This list is not competing to be the longest list of eponyms but the most accurate in the strictest sense of the word. Beware those lists that include words created by means that apply to any noun, that refer exclusively to the eponymous person, or words that simply name one unique object. Pseudo-eponyms include the following:
- ?possessive nouns used in phrases like Occam's Razor or Newton's Law. These are not eponyms but simple possessives no different from the dog's dinner. Also keep in mind that an eponym is a word, not a phrase.
- ?proper nouns used in phrases without possessives, such as Fosbury Flop, Heimlich Maneuver, Falkland Islands, unless they no longer refer specifically to the person whose name is used (and especially if the capitalization may be dropped), as in the case of the compound eponym Mae West.
- ?normal derivations created by adding productive suffixes like -ism, -ist, -esque, -ian since these suffixes may be added to any name and simply mean "like X's philosophy" or "in X's style" in words like Marxism, Rubinesque. However, such words may be eponyms if they no longer refer specifically to the person whose name is used and especially if the capitalization may be dropped, as in kafkaesque, quixotic.
- ?botanical and zoological names like Hoffmania, Einsteinium and Sanchezia that are not used outside the scientific world, especially if the new term is a proper noun itself. Scientists love to name their inventions and discoveries after themselves and their friends but there is no need to encourage this practice. Those derivations that have been assimilated into the general language and are spelled without capitalization like fuchsia and gardenia are acceptable eponymous. (For the artificial eponyms of names of elements click here.)
- ?simple commonizations: converting a proper noun into a common one as occurred in the cases of escalator and aspirin, originally brand names.
- afghan | America | Amish | ammonia | ampere | angstrom | aphrodisiac | argus | argyle | atlas | August | axel
- bacchanalia | bacitracin | bakelite | basque | baud | béchemel | becquerel | bedlam | begonia | bel | benedict | benedictine | bignonia | billingsgate | biro | blondel | bloomers | blucher | bobby | boffin | bogart | Bolivia | Boolean | borrelia | bougainvillea | boulework | bourbon | bowdlerize | boycott | boysenberry | braggadocio | braille | bromeliad | brougham | buddleia | buhlwork | bunkum, bunk | burberry | burke
- caesarean Short for caesarean section, the delivery of a child by surgery rather than through the birth canal. Gaius Julius Caesar, one of Rome's greatest generals and politicians because he was born by caesarean section according to legend.
- camellia A plant with dark green waxy leaves and a waxy white flower known for its fragrance. Named by Linnaeus after George Joseph Camel (1661-1706), a Moravian Jesuit missionary who did extensive botanical studies in the Philippines.
- canfield A game of solitaire similar to klondike. Named after Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914), an American gambler.
- cardigan A knit sweater that buttons in front. James Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868), British cavalry officer.
- casanova A philanderer, gigolo, an irresponsible lover who has many affairs with women. Giovanni Jacopo Casanova (1725-1798), Italian charlatan and social climber, who wrote several books, translated the Iliad but is most notorious for his History of my Life, which focuses on his many romantic conquests.
- Celsius A measure of temperature in which 0° is the temperature at which water freezes, and 100° the temperature at which it boils. Anders Celsius (1701-1744), the Swedish astronomer and scientist who invented a thermometer with 0 for the boiling point and 100 for the freezing point of water. After his death in 1744 the scale was reversed to its present form.
- cereal Grain or food made from grain. Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain and agriculture.
- chateaubriand A double-thick center cut of beef tenderloin. Vicomte François René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), French writer, statesman, and beef connoisseur.
- chauvinism Passionate, absolute, single-minded devotion to a cause. Nicolas Chauvin, a French soldier in Napoleon's army famous for his fanatical devotion to the Emperor.
- chesterfield 1. A couch or sofa (Canadian). 2. A men's overcoat with concealed buttons and a fur collar. One of the 19th century Earls of Chesterfield (probably).
- cicerone A tourist guide. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), Roman orator and statesman.
- cinchona The shrub whose bark is the source of quinine, also called Jesuit's bark and Peruvian bark. Purportedly named for the Countess Ana de Chinchón (1576-1641), Spanish viceroy of Peru.
- clarence A four-wheeled closed carriage for four. The Duke of Clarence (1765-1837), who later became King William IV.
- clausius A unit of entropy: the extent to which heat or energy in a physical system becomes unvailable for performing work. German physicist Rudolf Clausius (1822-1888), who introduced and named the concept of entropy in 1850.
- clerihew A humorous verse of two rhyming couplets about a person named in one of the rhymes. Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), the British novelist famous for writing them.
- Colombia A South American country and the name of many cities around the world. Christofor Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian discoverer of the America in 1492.
- comstockery Censorship of perceived immorality or obscenity. Anthony Comstock (1844-1915), a world-class book-burner and moral crusader and a former US Postal Inspector who was dedicated to enforcing the ideas of strict Victorian morality; .
- cordoba Basic monetary unit of Nicaragua. Francisco Fernandez de Córdoba (circa 1475-1526), a Spanish soldier and explorer.
- coulomb A measure of electrical current equal to 1 ampere in 1 second. Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806), a French physicist best known for the formulation of Coulomb's law, that the force between two electrical charges is proportional to the product of the charges.
- curie A unit of radioactivity equal to the amount of a radioactive isotope that decays at the rate of 3.7 x 1010 disintegrations per second. Named in honour of Pierre Curie (1859-1906), codiscoverer with his wife Marie of radium.
- Cyrillic The alphabet used by Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian. St. Cyril (826-869) who, with St. Methodius, invented the first Slavic alphabet (actually Glagolitic; Cyrillic itself came along 50 years later).
- czar The former king of Russia. An Old Slavic variation of Caesar. (See also tsar and kaiser.)
- daguerreotype An early form of photography much like tintype. Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (1789-1851), French painter and pioneering photographer.
- dahlia A large colorful, thickly petalled flower. Named by Carl Peter Thunberg after his close personal friend, Anders Dahl (1751-1789), an obscure Swedish botanist.
- decibel A measure of the difference between two acoustic levels equal to 10 times the common logarithm of the ratio between the two levels; 1/10 of a bel. Latin deci- "ten" + the surname of Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-born American scientist who invented the telephone.
- degauss To make nonmagnetic; take away the magnetic properties (of), as to degauss a TV screen. Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy, and optics.
- derby 1. A race, especially a horse race for 3-year-olds. 2. A stiff felt hat with a round crown and narrow brim. Both named after Edward Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752-1834), founder of the English Derby.
- derrick A tall, slender structure over an oil well used for hoisting pipes and lowering them into the well holes. Goodman Derick, a 17th century English hangman. The word originally referred to a gallows.
- derringer A small pistol easily concealed in the sleeve or in a lady's purse. Henry Deringer (1786-1868), the American gunsmith who invented it.
- diesel A type of motor engine that runs on heating oil rather than gasoline or petrol. Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), the German mechanical engineer who invented it.
- dionysian Orgiastic, relating to drunken orgies; wildly emotional, irrational. Dionysus, Greek god of wine, fruitfulness and vegetation (see also bacchanalia).
- doily A small place mat or decorative coverlet, usually crocheted. Mr. Doyley (first name unknown), probably a 17th century draper and dry-goods dealer on the Strand in London.
- draconian Harsh, unfairly demanding. Draco, a 7th century BCE Athenian law-giver known for his harsh laws and enforcement.
- dunce Nincompoop, stupid person. John Duns Scotus (circa 1265-1308), the Scottish theologian whose writings and philosophy were ridiculed by many during his lifetime.
- Einstein A genius (The kid's no Einstein). Albert Einstein (1879-1955), a brilliant German-born American physicist, known for his Theory of Relativity and formula for energy: e=mc2.
- epicure A person of refined tastes. Epicurus (341-270 BCE), Greek philosopher who taught that the highest form of good is pleasure and virtue.
- erlang A unit of the intensity of traffic in a communication system. Agner Krarup Erlang (1878-1929), a Danish mathematician who is the founder of modern telephonic traffic theory that made possible multiple telephone circuits on a single wire.
- erotic Sexually stimulating. Eros, the Greek god of love.
- euphuism An affectedly elegant literary style. After Euphues in the romantic novels Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and his England (1580) by English writer John Lyly (circa1554-1606).
- excelsior Curly wood shavings used as packing material. After the American Excelsior Company, which first began producing this product in 1888.
- Fahrenheit A system of temperature measure according to which water freezes at 32o and boils at 212o. Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), the German instrument maker who made the first reliable thermometers, providing him with the scale that now bears his name.
- farad A unit of electrical capacitance. Michael Faraday (1791-1867), the British physicist who discovered electromagnetic induction (1831) and first suggested the field theory developed later by Maxwell and Einstein.
- faraday A unit of electricity. Michael Faraday (1791-1867), British physicist who discovered electromagnetic induction (1831) and first suggested the field theory developed later by Maxwell and Einstein.
- fauna The animal kingdom, all animals taken together. Faunus, the Roman god of pastures and forests.
- fermi A metric unit of length equal to one quadrillionth of a meter Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), Italian-born American physicist known for his work on quantum theory and the first nuclear reactor.
- Ferris wheel A large vertical wheel at amusement parks with seats around its rim. US engineer George W. G. Ferris (1859-1896), who designed the first one for the Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago, 1893. It was 250 feet tall.
- filbert A hazel nut. Saint Philbert (died 684), a Frankish abbot whose feast day (August 22) marks the ripening season of this nut.
- flora Vegetation, all vegetation taken together or all in a specific region (the flora of Pennsylvania). Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers.
- forsythia An early-blooming plant with long radiating spears of bright yellow flowers in the spring. William Forsyth (1737-1804), a Scottish botanist and horticulturist who was a royal head gardener and a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society.
- frangipani 1. The temple tree: a shrub with milky sap and showy, fragrant, variously colored flowers. 2. An almond-flavored cream pastry filling. Marquis Frangipani, 16th century Italian nobleman who created a perfume for scenting gloves in the 16th century.
- freesia A South African plant with one-sided clusters of fragrant, multicolored flowers. Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (d.1876), a German physician.
- fresnel A unit of frequency, equivalent to 1012 hertz. Augustin Jean Fresnel (1788-1827), the French physicist who first created polarized light and invented the Fresnel lens.
- Friday The sixth day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. Frig(ga), Norse goddess of marital affection.
- fuchsia An ornamental shrub with hanging clusters of red-magenta-purple flowers. Leonard Fuchs (1501-1566), a German botanist and physician who wrote a popular book on collecting medicinal plants with beautiful drawings of the plants.
- furphy A bit of gossip, a rumor or fanciful story. The Furphy family of Victoria, Australia, manufacturer of Furphy mobile water tanks around which troops gathered and exchanged gossip during World War I.
- galenical Made of herbal or vegetable matter; a herbal medicinal preparation. Claudius Galenus; (129-216 BCE) of Pergamum, a prominent ancient Greek scientist and physician to 5 Roman emperors, whose theories dominated medical science for over 1300 years.
- galvanize,
- galvanise 1. To charge with electric current. 2. To coat iron or steel with zinc by charging it with electricity. 3. To arouse a crowd or group to concerted action. Luigi Galvani (1739-1798), an Italian physiologist noted for his discovery that the muscles in a frog's legs contracted in an electric field.
- gamp A large, baggy umbrella. After the umbrella of Mrs. Sarah Gamp, a character in the novel Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens.
- gardenia A shrub, native to China, that has glossy evergreen leaves and large, white, very fragrant flowers. Alexander Garden (1730-1791), a minor botanist born in Scotland but who spent most of his life in Charleston, South Carolina.
- gargantuan Huge, enormous, gigantic. François Rabelais (1483-1553), French author of satirical attacks on medieval scholasticism and superstition, especially Pantagruel (1532) and Gargantua (1534).
- garibaldi A loose high-necked blouse with long sleeves; styled after the red flannel shirts worn by Garibaldi's soldiers. Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), an Italian patriot and soldier of the Risorgimento who led many of the military campaigns that brought about the formation of a unified Italy.
- gat [Criminal argot] A pistol, short for Gatling gun, a gun with several barrels arranged in a circle that could shoot many rounds at one loading. Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903), American inventor from North Carolina.
- gauss A unit of magnetic flux density equal to 1 maxwell per square centimeter. Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy, and optics.
- gentian A European plant with brightly colored flowers or the drink made from its roots. According to the Roman author and philosopher Pliny the Elder, named for Gentius, King of Illyria (180-168 BCE), who first discovered is restorative properties.
- georgette A gauzy, silk-like material with a crêpe surface. Madame Georgette de la Plante, late 19th century French fashion designer (originally a trademark).
- Georgia A southeastern US state just north of Florida. King George II of England (1683-1760).
- Georgian Of or resembling the style of architecture characteristic of the reigns of the first four Georges in British history. Kings George I to George IV of England (1714-1830).
- gerrymander To create a political voting district so as to include as many members of the majority party as possible. Created by American artist Gilbert Stuart after Massachusetts governer Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), American politician who drew up voting districts to give his party an advantage.
- gilbert An electromagnetic unit of magnetomotive force. William Gilbert (1544-1603), English physician and scientist who first studied the properties of magnetic iron ore and invented the term 'electricity'.
- Gladstone
- wine, bag, carriage 1. A cheap French wine. 2. A suitcase with a rigid frame and flexible sides. 3. A roomy pleasure carriage. William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Four-times Liberal prime minister of Great Britain, and a dominant political figureof the Victorian era; a passionate supporter of home rule for Ireland.
- gradgrind A cold-minded person interested only in facts; a bean-counter. Thomas Gradgrind, character in the novel Hard Times (1854) by Charles Dickens.
- graham
- bread/cracker/flour Unbolted wheaten flour, and bread or biscuit prepared from this. Sylvester Graham (1794-1851), an American dietary reformer.
- gray A measure of ionizing radiation equal to one joule per kilogram. Louis Harold Gray (1905-1965), a British radiobiologist.
- grangerize To illustrate a text with pictures from other books. James Granger (1723-76), a British writer and clergyman, who published in 1769 a Biographical History of England with blank leaves for illustrations. The filling up of a 'Granger' became so popular that other books were published similarly.
- greengage A sweet greenish-yellow variety of plum. A compound of green + gage after Sir William Gage (1777-1864), English botanist.
- grog, groggy Rum or other liquor diluted with water. Short for grogram, after Sir Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral known as 'Old Groggy' for wearing a grogram cloak. Later the word was clipped and the meaning transferred to the diluted drink he served his sailors.
- guillemot A seabird. Guillemot, affectionate form of Guillaume, the French version of the English name William though no particular William seems involved in this naming.
- guillotine A French device for neatly slicing the heads off people. Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814, the French physician (!) who invented it.
- guppy A small fresh-water fish popular in fish bowls. R. J. Lechmere Guppy (1836-1916), a Trinidadian clergyman who supplied the first specimens to the British Museum.
- Hansard The official published report of the proceedings of a British-style parliamentary body. Luke Hansard (1752-1828), the English printer who printed the Journals of the House of Commons from 1774 to his death.
- hansom
- cab A two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with the driver's seat behind the passengers. Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-82), an architect from Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, who designed and patented it.
- hartree An atomic unit of energy. Douglas Rayner Hartree (1897-1958), English mathematician and physicist known for his work in numerical analysis and its application to atomic physics.
- havelock A cloth covering for a cap with a flap protecting the back of the neck from the sun. Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), a British general in India during the colonial period.
- hawkshaw A gumshoe, a detective, a PI. Hawkshaw the Detective from the 1863 play The Ticket of Leave Man by British dramatist Tom Taylor.
- hector To pester, bully, push around. Hector, a Trojan prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Trojan War.
- henry A unit of inductance created when an electromotive force of one volt is produced by varying current at the rate of one ampere per second. Joseph Henry (1797-1878), American physicist who discovered the electromagnetic phenomenon of self-inductance and whose work on the electromagnetic relay was critical to the invention of the telegraph.
- Hepplewhite Of or related to an 18th-century English style of furniture characterized by graceful lines, the use of concave curves, and the heart-shaped backs of its chairs. George Hepplewhite (died 1786), an English cabinet-maker who developed the style.
- herculean Huge, enormous, requiring immense strength. Hercules, a Greek hero forced to complete 12 extremely difficult tasks to restore himself in the eyes of the gods.
- hermaphrodite A person or animal with traits of both sexes. Hermaphroditos, son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, who was transformed into a hermaphrodite by a forced union with the nymph Salmacis.
- hermetic Sealed air-tight. From New Latin hermticus "alchemical", from the name of Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes Thrice-Great), the Greek name of an Egyptian priest and scholar known for his mastery of all three domains of knowledge of the time.
- hertz A unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second. Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857-94), German physicist who was the first to demonstrate the existence of electromagnetic radiation using a device he built to produce UHF radio waves.
- hooligan A ruffian, delinquent, mean person who does damage. The name figured in a popular music-hall song of the 1890s, which described the doings of a rowdy Irish family by the name of Hooligan.
- hoover A vacuum cleaner (UK). William Henry Hoover (1849-1932), American businessman who began producing vacuum cleaners after purchasing the patent from a family acquaintance, James Murray Spangler.
- hyacinth A bulb plant (Hyacinthus orientalis) that flowers early in the spring with several spears of bell-shaped flowers. From Greek huakinthos "wild hyacinth", also the name of Hyacinthus, a divine hero, the son of Clio and Pierus, King of Macedonia, for which one of the principal Spartan festivals, the Hyacinthia, was held every summer.
- iris A beautiful tuber plant with large, multicolored flowers growing on a single stem resembling large orchids. Iris, Greek goddess of the rainbow; also the Greek word for "rainbow".
- jackanapes An impudent or mischievous person. Jack Napis, nickname of William de la Pole, Fourth Earl and First Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450).
- jacuzzi A swirling, whirlpool bath. Candido Jacuzzi (1903-1986), the Italian-American who invented the whirlpool bath for his son who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.
- jansky A unit used in measuring the strength of radio sources in astronomy. Karl C. Jansky (1905-1950), Czech-born American radio engineer who, in 1932, first detected radio waves from a outer space.
- January The first month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. Janus, the Roman god of homes, thresholds, and bridges.
- jehu A reckless driver. (Probably the origin of saying, "Gee!" to get a horse to go.) Jehu, the son of Nimshi, mentioned in 2 Kings 9:20: "And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously."
- jeroboam A large wine bottle that holds 4/5 of a gallon. Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes in northern Israel (died 901 BCE).
- jerican A flat-sided can holding 5 gallons for storing liquids, usually gasoline. Originally Jerry can from Jerry, a slur for a German soldier during World Wars I and II.
- Jezebel A seductive woman of loose moral character. Jezebel, a Phoenician princess and the wife of Israeli king Ahab who convinced Ahab to build temples to the pagan god, Baal, in Israel and kill the prophets.
- jonah A person believed to bring bad luck to those around him. Jonah, Hebrew prophet of the 8th century BCE who was reported to have been swallowed by a whale and thrown up unharmed 3 days later.
- jorum A large drinking bowl. Possibly Joram, who brought vessels of silver, gold, and brass to King David (II Samuel 8:10).
- joule A measure of electrical energy equal to the work of a current of one ampere against the resistance of one ohm for one second. James Prescott Joule (1818-89), the English physicist who established the mechanical theory of heat and discovered the first law of thermodynamics (1818-1889).
- jovial Happy, amiable, jocular. Jove, the English for Jovialis, an alternate name for Jupiter, supreme god of Roman mythology, considered to be the source of all happiness.
- Judas A traitor. Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane by identifying him for Roman solidiers.
- July The seventh month of the year between June and August. Julius Caesar, July 102 or 100-44 BCE), a Roman general and emperor, and one of the most influential men in classical antiquity.
- June The sixth month of the Gregorian Calendar between May and July. Juno, the Roman goddess of the moon, women and marriage.
- kafkaesque Irrational and terrifying. Franz Kafka (1883-1924), Czech author of bizarre, labrynthine, terrifying stories.
- kaiser A German king or emperor. A Germanic variation of Caesar. (See also czar and tsar.)
- kayser A measure of wave length equal to the wavelength divided by a centimeter. Heinrich Gustav Johannes Kayser (1853-1940), German physicist known for his work in sound and spectrum analysis.
- kelvin A unit of absolute temperature equal to 1/273.16 of the absolute temperature of the triple point of water. William Thomson Kelvin, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907), the Scottish physicist who developed the Kelvin temperature scale of temperature.
- kleenex A soft facial tissue. A trademark of a dispensable tissue owned by the Kimberley-Clark company.
- klieg
- light A carbon arc lamp used in movie-making. John H. (1869-1959) and Anton T. Kleigl (1872-1927), American motion picture lighting experts.
- knickers 1. (US) Pants with legs cut off and gathered just below the knee, often worn by golfers. 2. (UK) Women's underpants. Short for knickerbockers, for the family Knickerbocker in the fictitious History of New York by Washington Irving (1783-1859), shown wearing baggy pants with legs gathered just below the knee in the illustrations by George Cruikshank.
- laconic Sparing of words, made up of few words, terse. For the region of Lakonia (Latin Laconia) in southern Greece whose capital was Sparta and whose inhabitants were famous for their spartan, laconic speech. Philip of Macedon once threatened the Lakonians, "If I enter Lakonia, I will raze Sparta to the ground." The Spartans' laconic reply was, "If."
- lambert A unit of illumination equal to the brightness of a perfectly diffusing surface that reflects one lumen per square centimeter. Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728-1777), a German mathematician who first proved that pi (the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter) is an irrational number.
- langley A measure of radiation equal to one gram calorie per square centimeter of irradiated surface. Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and a pioneer in aviation.
- Leningrad The temporary name of St. Petersburg, Russia from 1917-1991. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924), leader of the 1917 socialist revolution in Russia.
- leotard Tights worn for dancing. Jules Léotard (circa 1839-1870), French acrobatic performer who inspired the 1867 song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze".
- lesbian A female homosexual. For the home of Sappho (circa 600 BCE), a female Greek lyric poet, who wrote love poems to other women and was born on the island of Lesbos.
- Levis Tight-fitting blue jeans made by the now defunct Levi Strauss & Co. Levi Strauss (1830-1902), a Bavarian immigrant and clothing merchant, who bought the patent for riveting denim clothes to make the seams stronger from the inventor, Jacob Davis, a Nevada tailor, and sold them in San Francisco to prospectors during the Gold Rush.
- lewisite An oily, colorless to violet-brown liquid used in highly toxic gas weapons during World War I. Winford Lee Lewis (1878-1943), American chemist.
- lobelia A plant bearing variously colored flowers with a bilabiate (two-lipped) corolla. Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616), a Flemish physician to William the Silent, Prince of Orange, before moving to England and becoming James I's physician and botanist.
- loganberry 1. A red-fruited trailing bramble native from Oregon to Baja California. 2. A hybrid of the blackberry and raspberry. James Harvey Logan (1841-1928), an American judge from Santa Cruz, California who crossed plants of the Aughinbaugh blackberry and Red Antwerp raspberry to create the second loganberry.
- lucullan Luxurious, opulent, extravagant Lucius Licinius Lucullus (118-56 BC), Roman general and consul known more for the luxury of his retirement than his service.
- luddite An opponent of progress. Ned Ludd, an English laborer who was supposed to have destroyed weaving machinery around 1779 after being replaced by it.
- lynch To hang someone in a mob frenzy without a trial. William Lynch, the author of "Lynch's Law", an agreement with the Virginia General Assembly in 1782 that allowed Lynch to capture and punish criminals in Pittsylvania County without trial due to the lack of courts in that county.
- macadam A kind of asphalt. John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), the Scottish engineer who first proposed compacted crushed stone as a road covering.
- Mach A measurement of the ratio of the speed of a moving body to the speed of sound. Ernst Mach (1838-1916), an Austrian physicist and philosopher who introduced the Mach number and who founded logical positivism.
- Machiavellian Characterized by expediency, self-interest, and deceit. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian political theorist whose book The Prince (1513) argues that power is achieved and maintained by sheer determination void of any consideration of morality.
- mackintosh (British) A raincoat made of rubberized material or the material itself. Charles Mackintosh (1760-1843), the Scottish chemist who invented a method for making waterproof garments by cementing two pieces of cloth together with rubber dissolved in naphtha.
- madeleine A small cake, baked in a shell-shaped mold. Madeleine Paulmier, 19th century French pastrycook.
- Mae West An inflatable life jacket, originally one issued to servicemen in the Royal Air Force during World War II (1939-1945). Mae West (1892-1980), buxom American actress favored very popular at the time.
- magnolia An evergreen tree with large glossy leaves and great, white, highly fragrant flowers native to the southern US states. Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), a French botanist who played a critical role in developing the current botanical scheme of classification.
- mansard
- roof A roof with two slopes, the lower one steeper than the upper. François Mansart (1598-1666), French classical architect.
- marathon An arduous footrace or other long and difficult undertaking that is a test of endurance. The city of Marathon, Greece where, in 490 BCE, the Greeks defeated the Persians even though heavily outnumbered because a messenger named Pheidippides ran 150 miles in two days to Sparta for help.
- marcel A hairstyle characterized by deep regular waves. Marcel Grateau (1852-1936), a French hairdresser who invented the style using heating irons.
- March The third month of the Gregorian calendar between February and April. Mars, the Roman god of war.
- marigold An annual plant with bright yellow or orange, multipetaled, round flowers. Presumably a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
- martin A swallow (bird). Probably after Saint Martin, the 4th-century Bishop of Tours.
- martinet A rigid disciplinarian who demands absolute adherence to rules and regulations. Jean Martinet, French army officer during the reign of Louis XIV.
- masochism The enjoyment of pain associated with sexual arousal. Psychologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing based this word on the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), Austrian author of the novel Venus in Furs about the enjoyment of pain.
- maudlin Overly sentimental, uncontrollably tearful. A corruption of (Mary) Magdalene, who wept at the empty tomb after the resurrection of Jesus.
- Mauser A handgun used by the German army in World War II. Peter Paul von Mauser (1838-1914) and brother Wilhelm (1834-82), the German firearms manufacturers who developed it.
- mausoleum An above-ground burial chamber. King Mausolus (died circa 395 BCE), ruler of Caria in ancient Greece, best known from his tomb which was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
- maverick An uncontrollable individualist, iconoclast, unstable nonconformist. Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870), American cattleman who never branded his cows. Whenever his neighbors picked up strays, they called them 'Maverick's'.
- Maxim
- gun The first single-barreled, water-cooled machine gun that used recoil action to expell the empty cartridge and insert a fresh one. US born British gun manufacturer Sir Hiram S. Maxim (1840-1916).
- maxwell A unit of magnetic flux in the centimeter-gram per second system. James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) who made fundamental contributions to the theories of electromagnetism and gases.
- May The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, between April and June. Maia, the Roman goddess of spring and fertility.
- meander 1. To follow a winding course. 2. To wander aimlessly. The ancient Greek river Maiandros in Phrygia (Latin Maeander) and now the Büyük Menderes in western Turkey, noted for its many complex windings.
- Melba toast Very thinly sliced crisp toast. Helen Porter Mitchell (1861-1931), a famous opera singer of the late 19th and early 20th century, whose stage name was Dame Nellie Melba, taken her native city of Melbourne, honored by having many edible trifles named for her (see also peach Melba).
- Mennonite A member of an Anabaptist religion that emphasizes pacifism, nonresistance to evil, communal sharing, and a simple lifestyle. Menno Simons(zoon) (1492-1559), Frisian (Dutch) religious reformer who revitalized the Anabaptist movement and laid the foundation for the sect named for him.
- mentor A teacher and advisor. Mentor, Odysseus's loyal friend in Homer's epic poem The Odyssey.
- mesmerize
- mesmerise To fascinate someone to the point that they seem to be in a trance; to hypnotize. Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Austrian physician who argued that the condition of the body is controlled by "animal magnetism". (James Braid 1795-1860, a Scottish neurosurgeon, invented and named hypnotism.)
- methuselah An extremely old person. Methuselah, the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Bible (969 years).
- Mickey Finn A drink with knock-out drops (chloral hydrate) in it. Supposedly for Mickey Finn, Chicago saloon-keeper at the end of the 19th century.
- Mickey-Mouse Easy, simple, unimportant. Mickey Mouse, a cartoon character created in 1928 by Wald Disney (1901-1966).
- milquetoast A meek, timid, unassertive man. Caspar Milquetoast, a comic-strip character created by Harold Tucker Webster (1885-1952).
- mirandize To read the legal rights to a suspect arrested on a criminal charge. Ernesto A. Miranda (1941-1976), laborer whose conviction on kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery was overturned because arresting officers failed to inform him of his legal rights.
- molly A popular aquarium fish. Comte Nicolas-François Mollien (1758-1850), French politician and one of Napoleon's chief financial advisers.
- Moonie A member of the Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon (original name Yong Myung Moon (1920- ) Korean industrialist who founded the Unification Church.
- morgan An American saddle and trotting horse noted for its speed and endurance Justin Morgan (1747-1798), US teacher and owner of the stallion from which the breed is descended.
- morphine An alkaloid of opium used in medicine as a narcotic analgesic. Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep and dreams.
- myrmidon A lackey, someone who carries out orders obediently without question. The Myrmidons, a belligerent people of Thessaly who followed Achilles into the Trojan War.
- narcissism Infatuation with oneself. Narcissus, a beautiful young man of Greek mythology who looked into a reflective pool and fell in love with the image of himself.
- nebuchadnezzar A huge wine bottle holding 20 normal bottles of wine; used mostly for display. Nebuchadnezzar (circa 630-562 BCE), king of Chaldea who captured and destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Israelites to Babylonia.
- negus A mixture of wine, hot water, lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg. Colonel Francis Negus, a colonel in the British army who died in 1732 after drinking negus.
- nemesis 1. The source of damage, harm, or destruction. 2. Strong, inevitable retribution. 3. An opponent or other threat that cannot be escaped or defeated. Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution.
- nestor A wise old man. Nestor, a legendary Greek king of Pylos, reputedly very wise.
- newton The unit of force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram one meter per second per second. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), British physicist and mathematician who first formulated the theory of gravity and invented differential calculus.
- nicotine The poisonous addictive chemical in tobacco smoke. Jean Nicot (1530-1600), the French ambassador to Portugal, who promoted smoking by sending tobacco seeds and leaves to France in the mid 16th century.
- oersted A unit of magnetic intensity equal to the magnetic intensity one centimeter from a unit magnetic pole. H. C. Oersted (1777-1851), Danish physicist.
- ohm A unit of electrical resistance equal to the resistance of a conductor in which a 1-ampere current is produced by a potential of one volt across its terminals. Georg Simon Ohm (1787-1854), a German physicist who worked extensively with electrical resistance.
- onanism 1. Manual stimulation of the genitals. 2. Coitus interruptus. Onan, the son of Judah, as explained in Genesis 38:9.
- orrery A mechanical model of the solar system. After Charles Boyle, Fourth Earl of Orrery (1676-1731), for whom one of the first was made.
- Oscar The annual award for best performances by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This name originated in an off-hand remark by the secretary at AMPAS: "He reminds me of my Uncle Oscar," that is, Oscar Pierce, US wheat farmer and fruit grower.
- ottoman A soft upholstered footstool. Italian ottomano "Ottoman", the Turkish royal family established by Osman I (1259-1326), sultan of Turkey (1281-1326).
- paean A song or hymn of praise; an encomium. Greek Paean (also Paeon) "healer" and "song" (probably because incantation was a part of healing at the time), an alternative name for Apollo, the physician of the Greek gods and god of healing.
- paisley A material of brightly colored abstract design featuring teardrop-shaped swirls. A town that was a 19th-century textile center in southern Scotland.
- palladium 1. A protector or safeguard. 2. A sacred object believed to protect an administrative region (city, state, country, etc.) After the protector of Troy, the Greek goddess Pallas Athena.
- pander To give in to the wishes of someone from whom you hope to gain something in return. Pandarus, an obsequious character in the poem Filostrato by Giovanni Boccaccio.
- panic To lose control of yourself in a state of nervous anxiety. Pan, the Greek god of the forests, shepherds and flocks, represented as a human torso with a goat's legs, horns, and ears.
- pants Clothing worn from the waist down have a separate sleeve for each leg. A clipping of pantaloon from Italian Pantalone, a silly old buffoon in the Italian Comedia dell'Arte, who wore spectacles, baggy breeches and stockings. He was named for the patron saint of Venice, San Panteleone, 4th century Venetian physician, executed for his belief in Christ. Pantaloons originally referred to bloomers, baggy underwear worn by women. Later it came to refer to pants tied below the knees and worn by men. From there it went on to be shortened to simply pants and refer to any sort of trousers.
- pascal A unit of pressure equal to one newton per square meter. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician and philosopher who invented the adding machine and contributed to the theory of probability.
- pasteurize
- pasteurise To destroy bacteria by heating. Louise Pasteur (1822-95), the French chemist and bacteriologist who discovered that bacteria are the cause of certain diseases.
- pavlova A dessert consisting of a meringue shell filled with fruit and topped with whipped cream. Anna Pavlova (1885-1931), a famous Russian ballerina.
- Pavlovian Automatic, unthinking, as a direct result of a stimulus. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist who discovered that the repetition of a stimulus conditions a predictable response pattern.
- Peach Melba Ice cream with peaches topped with raspberry liqueur. Helen Porter Mitchell (1861-1931), a famous opera singer of the late 19th and early 20th century, whose stage name was Dame Nellie Melba (taken from the name of her native city of Melbourne), honored by having many trifles named for her (see also Melba toast).
- peavy A lumberman's pike with a spike and pivoting hooked arm at the end. Joseph Peavey, an American blacksmith who died in 1873.
- pecksniff
- pecksniffian An unctuous hypocrite who meddles in the affairs of others. Seth Pecksniff, a character in the novel The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-1844) by Charles Dickens.
- Pennsylvania US state between New Jersey and Ohio with its capital in Harrisburg. Sir William Penn (1621-1670), British admiral and Quaker pacifist, who urged a union of all the English colonies long before the United States came into being.
- petersham 1. A rough, knotted woolen cloth. 2. A style of men's overcoat with a short cape attached. 3. A reinforced corded tape used in dress-making to stiffen areas. Charles Stanhope, Viscount Petersham, 4th Earl of Harrington (1780-1851) and British army officer who set the trend of wearing the coat.
- petri
- dish A shallow, circular, flat-bottomed glass or plastic dish with vertical sides and a cover of the same shape used to hold laboratory cultures or samples. Julius Petri (1852-1921), the German bacteriologist who first developed the dish and proposed its uses.
- pinchbeck An alloy of copper and zinc used in making cheap jewelry that resembles gold. Christopher Pinchbeck (circa 1670-1732), the London watchmaker, who developed the alloy.
- platonic Purely spiritual, ideal, not physical. Plato (Platon in Greek; circa 427-347 BCE), one of the three great Greek philosophers along with Socrates and Aristotle, who laid the foundation of Western culture.
- plimsoll 1. The line on the hull of a ship that indicates the legal limit to which it may be loaded. 2. A sneaker (British). Samuel Plimsoll (1824-1898), British merchant who played a crucial role in the reform of shipping rules.
- poinsettia A tropical American plant that is very popular at Christmas which has red or white upper leaves that appear to be petals around a small group of actual flowers that are yellow in its center. Noel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), U.S. ambassador to Mexico, thought to have brought the plant to the attention of botanists.
- poise A unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter. J. L. M. Poiseuille (1799-1869), a French physician and physiologist.
- poncelet An obsolete French unit of power equal to one hundred kilogram-meters of energy per second, now replaced by horsepower. Jean Victor Pocelet (1788-1867), French mathematician and engineer.
- praline Candy made of pecans in syrup boiled until solid. César de Choiseul, Count Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), a nutty French field marshal.
- procrustean Ruthlessly forcing conformity. Procrustes, a mythical Greek giant who ruthlessly stretched or shortened captives to make them fit his beds.
- Promethean Boldly, defiantly creative, breaking the mold. Prometheus, a demigod in Greek mythology who stole fire from Olympus and gave it to humans and was punished by Zeus who chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver, which grew back daily.
- protean Polymorphic, having many different shapes or forms. Proteus, sea god in Greek mythology who could change his appearance at will.
- quassia A South American tree with bright scarlet flowers that yields the bitter tonic quassia, popular in the 19th century, from its wood and bark. A Surinamese slave, Graman Quassi, who discovered its medicinal properties.
- quisling Traitor, collaborator. Vidkun Abraham Quisling (1887-1945), a Norwegian collaborator with the Nazi occupation of Norway during World War II.
- Quixotic Foolishly idealistic. Don Quixote, the hero of novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616).
- Rabelaisian Characterized by coarse, ribald humor. François Rabelais (1483-1553), French author of satirical attacks on medieval scholasticism and superstition, especially in his novels Pantagruel (1532) and Gargantua (1534).
- rachmanism Unscrupulous mistreatment of tenants. Peter Rachman (1920-1962), notoriously unscrupulous Polish-born landlord in London, England, in the 1950s.
- rafflesia A stemless, leafless parasitic plant with a large brown foul-smelling flower that can reach 1 meter in diameter. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), British colonial administrator and a key nineteenth century imperial expansionist who founded the rather smelly London Zoo.
- raglan A sleeve that extends all the way to the neck with a slanted seam from the armpit to the neck or an article of clothing with such sleeves. Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788-1855), born in Badminton, aide-de-camp of Wellington and later commander of Lord Cardigan who led the famous Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. Raglan lost his arm in battle and the raglan sleeve was probably named after him for an adaptation of his coat to accommodate his missing arm.
- rambo A violent, vengeful, and agressive person. John Rambo, the hero of David Morrell's violence-ridden novel First Blood (1972) and a series of movies starring Sylvester Stallone.
- rayl
- rayleigh Unit of acoustic impedance such that 1 rayl = 1 kg × m-2 × sec-1. John William Strutt, 3rd Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919), British physicist who won a 1904 Nobel Prize for investigating the density of gases and for discovering argon.
- rehoboam A wine bottle six times larger than a normal one. Rehoboam, the Old Testament son of Solomon, king of Israel & Judah around the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
- reyn A unit of dynamic viscosity. Osborne Reynolds (1842-1912), an Irish-born British fluid dynamics physicist who studied turbulence in fluid flow.
- rickettsia A bacteria carried by parasites that cause typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Howard T. Ricketts (1871-1910), the American pathologist (Northwestern University and University of Chicago) who isolated the bacterium.
- ritzy Posh, swanky, luxurious. After the Ritz hotels, established by César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier.
- rodomontade Outlandish bragging, boasting. Rodomonte, the arrogant Saracen king of Algiers in Ariosto's Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso whose name is based on Italian rodomontada "boasting".
- roentgen A unit of radiation exposure equal to the amount of ionizing radiation that creates one electrostatic unit of electricity in one cubic centimeter of dry air. Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen (1845-1923), the German physicist who discovered x-rays.
- roorback A political dirty trick, a slanderous lie against a political adversary. After a letter published in an Ithaca, New York newspaper during the 1844 presidential campaign between James K. Polk and Henry Clay. The letter claimed that a Baron von Roorback came across 43 slaves owned by Polk and branded with his initials while traveling through Tennessee. The baron did not exist.
- rutherford A unit of radioactive strength equal to one million disintegrations per second. Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford (1871-1937), New Zealand physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize for his research in radioactivity at Cambridge and McGill University.
- sabin A unit of acoustic absorption equivalent to the absorption of all sound by one square foot of a surface. Wallace Clement Sabine (1868-1919), American physicist who was the founder of the modern study of acoustics.
- sadism The enjoyment of inflicting pain on others. Count Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814), French soldier who wrote novels about his adventures in mistreating young girls in his village.
- sad sack An awkward, dull, and foolish person. A cartoon character created in 1942 by George Baker (1915-1975).
- Saint Bernard A large, shaggy dog breed. Saint Bernard of Menthon (923-1008), an Italian clergyman who established a hospice on an Alpine pass connecting France and Germany with Rome from which, with the assistance of his dogs, he helped pilgrims trapped in the enormous snow drifts of that pass.
- salmonella A pathogenic bacteria causing food poisoning, typhoid, and other infectious diseases in humans and domestic animals. Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914), an American veterinary surgeon who took credit for the discovery of salmonella, which was actually discovered by his colleague Theobald Smith.
- samarskite A black mineral occurring in pegmatites. Vasilii Yefrafovich Samarski-Bykhovets (1803-1870), Chief of staff of the Russian Corps of Mining Engineers.
- sanforize
- sanforise To preshrink clothes so that they will not shrink further after purchase. Sandford Lockwood Cluett (1840-1968), the American inventor of the process.
- sanforize
- sapphism Lesbianism, female homosexuality. Greek woman poet of the island of Lesbos, presumed to be homosexual.
- Saturday The seventh day of the week, after Friday. Saturn, Roman god of agriculture.
- saturnine Gloomy, sullen Presumed result of being born under the influence of the planet Saturn.
- savarin A sponge cake baked in a ring mold. Antheline Brillat-Savarin (died 1826), a French politician and gourmet cook, author of Physiologie du Gout (The Physiology of Taste).
- savart A unit of measure in music equal to the ratio in frequency between notes. The French physicist, Félix Savart (1791-1841), best known for his work in electromagnetism, though he also did pioneering research in the physics of sound.
- Savoyard A devotee of Gilbert & Sullivan operas or a performer in them. After the Savoy Theatre in London, known for its performances of Gilbert & Sullivan.
- saxophone A brass reed musical instrument shaped like an S. Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), a Belgian musician and musical-instrument maker.
- scrooge A mean-spirited skinflint, a nasty, ill-tempered, stingy person. After Ebenezer Scrooge, the miserly old-man in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
- sequoia The giant redwood tree. Sequoya (1770-1843), 19th-century Cherokee scholar who developed a writing system for the Cherokee language.
- shrapnel 1. Metal fragments from a bomb or artillery shell. 2. A 19th-century hollow cannon ball filled with metal shot that exploded in the air. Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842) who, while a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, invented a "spherical case" ammunition, comprising a hollow cannon ball filled with metal balls which burst in mid-air.
- sideburns That part of the hair that grows in front of the ears. Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881), American general known mostly for wearing sideburns.
- siemens A unit of electrical conductance equal to the reciprocal of an ohm (one ampere per volt). Ernst Werner von Siemens (1816-1892), German electrical engineer, inventor, and businessman.
- sievert The amount of ionizing radiation required to produce the biological effect as one rad of high-penetration x-rays. R. M. Sievert (1896-1966), a Swedish physicist.
- silhouette A flat shadow-like figure without features other than a solid outline against a white background. Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV, because the victims of his taxes were reduced to mere shadows of themselves.
- simony The ecclesiastical crime of paying for offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church. Simon Magus, 1st century astrologer from Samaria who, according to Acts 8:18-19, tried to buy the power of conferring the gift of the Holy Spirit to people from the Apostles.
- slave A person who legally belongs to another and has no rights within the law. Sclavus, Medieval Latin word for 'a Slav', a member of the Slavonic people of central Europe, including Poles, Czechs, Russian, and Ukrainians.
- slob A person with no sense of cleanliness or hygiene. Another racial slur for Slav, a member of the Slavonic people of central Europe, including Poles, Czechs, Russian, and Ukrainians.
- smithsonite Native zinc carbonate. James Smithson (original name James Lewes Macie; 1765-1829), the British chemist for whom the Smithsonian Institute was also named.
- Socratic
- method, irony Related to raising doubt with questions and following the implications of the questions in teaching. Socrates (circa 470-399 BCE), Greek philosopher who developed this method of teaching.
- soubise A sauce of butter, tarragon, chicken stock, Chablis and onions thickened with cream. Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise (1715-1787), French nobleman and epicure.
- sousaphone A bass brass instrument that wraps around the shoulder. The horn was developed in the 1890s by J. W. Pepper at the request of John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), American composer and bandleader, whose name Pepper adopted for his instrument.
- spartan Lean, spare, austere, lacking frills or accessories. The ancient Greek city of Sparta, the capital of Laconia, known for its strictness, frugality, and its laconic speech.
- spencer 1. A short double-breasted overcoat worn by men in the 19th century. 2. A close-fitting, waist-length jacket worn by women. George John Spencer, 2nd Earl of Spencer (1758-1834), English Whig politician known mostly for having things named after him.
- stentorian Loud, booming. Stentor, a herald of the Greek forces during the Trojan War whose voice, according to Homer, was as powerful as fifty voices of other men.
- stetson A tall, large-brimmed hat favored in Texas and western US states. John Bauerson Stetson (1830-1906), an obscure American hat-maker.
- stoic Brave, unresponsive, unemotional. The Stoics, a Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno about 308 BCE that believed God determined everything by diviine will, so anything that comes to pass should be calmly accepted as for the best.
- stroganoff Stewed in a sour cream, onion, and mushroom sauce: beef stroganoff, liver stroganoff, etc. Named for the prominent St. Petersburg family, Stroganoff, one of whose chefs apparently invented it.
- Svengali A mysterious man who can hypnotize people and trick them into doing his bidding. Svengali, a character in Trilby, novel by English artist and writer George du Maurier (1834-1896).
- syphilis A social venereal disease. Syphilis, a character in the poem Syphilis seve Morbus Gallicus by Girolamo Fracastro (1483-1553), a physician, astronomer, and poet of Verona. Syphilis was the name of the shepherd in the center of the poem and the disease he suffered from.
- Sisyphean Endlessly laborious and futile. Sisyphus, a Corinthian king who offended Zeus and was punished by having to push a stone to the top of a hill in Hades. However, as the stone approaced the top, it rolled back down and Sisyphus had to start all over again.
- talbot
- talbotype The process of photographing on sensitized paper. Named for the owner of the patent, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), British scientist, registered in 1841.
- tam-o'-shanter A soft woollen bonnet with flat circular crown about twice the diameter of the head, originally worn by Scottish ploughmen but by the end of the 19th century, by young ladies, as well. The hero of the poem Tam o' Shanter (1791), by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
- tantalize
- tantalise To allure with something that is withdrawn at the last moment, to torment in this way. Tantalus, mythical king of Phrygia who revealed secrets of the gods and was condemned to stand up to his chin in water, which dropped when he stooped to drink, with fruit hanging above him that rose when he reached to pick it.
- tarmac A heavy-duty asphalt used for airport runways. Short for tar+macadam, the name of John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), the Scottish engineer who first proposed paving roads with crushed stone.
- tartuffe A hypocrite who feigns religious piety. Tartuffe, the protagonist in a play of the same name by Moliére.
- tattersall A pattern popular in men's shirts made up of squares usually on a yellowish background. Richard Tattersall (1724-95), English horse auctioneer who founded the first bloodstock equine auction house in the world.
- tawdry Gaudy, tasteless. From tawdry lace, a corruption of Saint Audrey's lace which could only be purchased as Saint Audrey's Fair, in Ely, England. The fair was named after Saint Audrey (Saint Etheldreda), queen of Northumbria, who died in 679.
- teddy Short for teddy bear, a soft, stuffed toy in the shape of a bear. Named for Teddy, the nickname of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), once depicted in a famous cartoon sparing the life of a bear cub.
- tesla A measure of a unit of magnetic flux density equal to one weber per square meter. Nikola Tesla (1857-1943), Croatian-born electrical inventor responsible for developing AC (alternating current) used in homes and buildings throughout the world today.
- tetrazzini Made with noodles in a cream sauce of mushrooms, almonds, and cheese. Luisa Tetrazzini (1874-1940), Italian opera singer who loved the stuff.
- theremin An electronic musical instrument played by moving the hands about its two antennas. Lev Teremin (1896-1993), the Russian engineer who invented it.
- thespian Related to actors or acting. Thespis, 6th century Greek poet credited as the originator of Greek tragedy.
- Thursday The fifth day of the week, between Wednesday and Friday. Thor, Norse god of thunder.
- timothy A European perennial grain (Phleum pratense) widely grown for hay in the United States. Possibly named for Timothy Hanson, the American farmer who brought the grain from Europe and introduced it in the US.
- titan A person outstanding in his or her field of endeavor. The Titans, 12 primeval gigantic gods and goddesses in Greek mythology.
- titanic Huge, gigantic. The Titans, 12 primeval gigantic gods and goddesses in Greek mythology.
- titchy (UK children's slang) Tiny, teeny, wee. Harry Relph (1867-1928), a small British actor whose stage name was "Little Titch".
- titian Brownish orange. Titian (circa 1487-1576), an Italian painter known for his use of this color in his paintings.
- tommy gun An .45 calibre submachine gun. A corruption of the Thompson submachine gun, named after John Taliaferro Thompson (1860-1940), the chief engineer of the Remington Arms Company who invented the weapon.
- tontine A retirement annuity in which the payout to individual members increases with the death of each member, the last member receiving the remaining principal. Lorenzo Tonti (1620-95), the Neopolitan banker who developed the idea.
- Tony An award given to members of the US theater. A shortening of "The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre", named for the American actress Antoinette Perry (1888-1946) by the American Theatre Wing, an organization promoting theater.
- torr A unit of pressure equal to 133.3 pascals. Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647), Italian physicist and mathematician.
- trilby A felt hat with two creases in the front of the crown. Trilby, novel by the British writer George du Maurier (1834-96) because the character wore such a hat in the London production based on the novel.
- trojan Short for Trojan horse A computer virus hidden in an otherwise useful application. The city of Troy, according to Homer's Odyssy and in Virgils' Aeneid, was defeated when its attackers gave the city a large wooden horse as an ostensible peace offering. At night, though, Greek warriors hidden in the horse came out and opened the gates of the city.
- troland A unit of visual stimulation to the retina. Leonard T. Troland (1889-1932), American, a Harvard biochemist who put forward one of the earliest theories describing a chemical origin for life on Earth and who had two retinas himself.
- trudgen Now called the front crawl: A swimming stroke with a double overarm movement and a scissors kick. John Arthur Trudgen (1860-1940), the British swimmer who copied it from South American Indians.
- tsar The former king of Russia. An Old Slavic variation of Caesar. (See also czar and kaiser.)
- Tuesday The third day of the week, between Monday and Wednesday. Tyr, the Anglo-Saxon god of war and the sky.
- typhon A steam-operated horn. Typhon, a monster with 100 heads and one of the whirlwinds in Greek mythology.
- uzi A compact Israeli 9mm submachine gun, the weapon of choice of drug smugglers. After Uziel "Uzi" Gal, born Gotthard Glass (1923-2003) in Germany, an Israeli army officer and weapons designer.
- vandal Someone who intentionally defaces or destroys the propery of others. The Vandals, a Germanic people who overran Gaul, Spain, North Africa and Rome in the 5th century.
- venereal Sexually transmitted. Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
- vernier An auxiliary scale or measuring device for fine adjustments attached to a larger scale or device for making gross adjustments. Pierre Vernier (1580-1637), a French mathematician.
- vesta
- vestal Pure, chaste. Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth.
- Victorian 1. A style of furniture and decorating characteristic of the era of English Queen Victoria. 2. Overly proper, prudish. Queen Victoria of England (1819-1901), known for her austere life style and strict morality.
- volcano An opening in the earth through which molten lava issues or a mountain build up of lava. Vulcan (Latin Volcanus), the Roman god of fire and metalworking.
- volt A unit of measurement of electrical current. Count Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), the Italian physicist who developed the first electric battery in 1800.
- vulcanize
- vulcanise To strengthen rubber by applying heat and pressure. Vulcan (Latin Volcanus), the Roman god of fire and metalworking.
- watt A unit of power equal to 1 joule per second. James Watt (1736-1819), Scottish engineer and inventor who made critical improvements to the steam engine.
- weber A unit of magnetic flux equal to 100,000,000 maxwells. Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804-1891), German physicist known for his research into magnetism and electricity.
- Wednesday The fourth day of the week, between Tuesday and Thursday. Woden, god of wisdom, culture and, of course, war.
- wisteria A decorative vine with hanging grape-like clusters of lavender flowers. The botanist Thomas Nuttall named the genus Wisteria in honour Caspar Wistar (1761-1818), a Philadelphia physician and teacher who introduced many innovations into the teaching of medicine.
- yarborough A bridge or whist hand containing no face cards in the trump suit. Charles Anderson Worsley, Second Earl of Yarborough (1809-1897), who supposedly laid odds at one time of 1,000 to 1 that such a hand would not be dealt.
- zany Outrageously funny, ridiculous. Zanni, a traditional clown who wears a mask with a long, downward curving beak in the Italian Commedia dell'arte.
- Zeppelin A dirigible balloon. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), German general and aeronautical pioneer who developed the first balloon with propellers that was dirigible (directable).
- zinnia A cultivated flower with a showy, rayed, variously colored flowers. Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759), German anatomist and director of the Botanic garden of the University of Göttingen, where he described various species of orchids.
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Erstellt: 2010-02
