An eponym is a word derived from the name of a real, fictional, mythical or spurious character or person. Most eponyms originate from a person's surname: boycott, for instance, from the Irish landlord Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott; dahlia, from the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl; the sousaphone, from the American bandmaster John Philip Sousa; and volt, from the Italian physicist Count Alessandro Volta. Many eponymous words come from literary, biblical or mythological sources: malapropism, from Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's The Rivals; Dickensian, from the English writer Charles Dickens; as old as Methuselah, from the age of the Old Testament patriarch; and aphrodisiac, from the Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.
There are thousands of eponyms in everyday use in English today and study of them yields a fascinating insight into the rich heritage of the world's most popular language and its development. Here are some more examples of names that have been immortalised in such a way.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
~ A ~ | |
| Aaron's beard/rod | Aaron, brother of Moses |
| abelia | Clark Abel (1780-1826), British botanist |
| adamsite | Roger Adams (1889-1971), American chemist |
| Addison's Disease | Thomas Addison (1795-1860), English physician |
| Albright's Syndrome | Fuller Albright (1900-69), American physician |
| aldrin | Kurt Alder (1902-58), American chemist |
| alexandrine | Alexander the Great (356-323BC), king of Macedonia |
| alexandrite | Alexander I of Russia (1777-1825) |
| algorithm | al-Khowarizmi (c.800-850), Arab mathematician |
| Alport's Syndrome | Arthur Cecil Alport (1880-1959), South African physician |
| Alzheimer's Disease | Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915), German neuropathologist and psychiatrist |
| America | Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), Italian explorer |
| Amish | Jakob Ammam, 17th century Swiss Mennonite bishop |
| ammonia | Ammon, Egyptian god |
| ampere | André Marié Ampére (1775-1836), French phyicist |
| Anderson shelter | John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley (1882-1958), British politician |
| ångström | Anders Jonas Ångström (1814-74), Swedish physicist and astronomer |
| aphrodisiac | Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty |
| apple charlotte | Princess Charlotte (1796-1817), daughter of King George IV of England |
| Appleton layer | Sir Edward Appleton ( 1892-1963), British physicist |
| arachnid | Arachne, girl in Greek mythology turned into a spider by Athena |
| Archimedes' screw | Archimedes (c.287-c.212BC), Greek mathematician and scientist |
| Argyll-Robertson pupil | Douglas Moray Cooper Lamb Argyll Robertson (1837-1909), Scottish ophthalmologist |
| asphalt | Leopold von Asphalt (1802-80), Bavarian landowner |
| assassin | Assassins, a secret fanatical sect of Muslims in 11th century Persia |
| atlas | Atlas, Titan in Greek mythology |
| aubrietia | Claude Aubnet (1665-1742), French painter |
| August | Augustus Caesar (63 BC - AD 14), Roman emperor |
| axel | Axel Paulsen (1856-1938), Norwegian figure skater |
~ B ~ | |
| Babcock test | Stephen Moulton Babcock (1843-1931), American agricultural chemist |
| bacchanalia | Bacchus, Roman name of the Greek god of wine, Dionysus |
| bacitracin | Margaret Tracy (c.1936-), child in whose tissues it was found |
| Baedeker | Karl Baedeker (1801-59), German printer |
| Baffin Bay/Island | William Baffin (c.1584-1622), English navigator |
| Bailey bridge | Sir Donald Bailey (1901-85), English engineer |
| Bakelite | Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944), American chemist |
| banksia | Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), British botanist and scientist |
| banting | William Banting (1797-1878), English undertaker |
| Bartter's Syndrome | Frederic Crosby Bartter (1914-83), American physician |
| Bartlett pear | Enoch Bartlett (1779-1860), American merchant |
| Baskerville type | John Baskerville (1706-75), English printer |
| baud | Jean M. E. Baudot (1845-1903), French inventor |
| Baumé scale | Antoine Baumé (1728-1804), French chemist |
| Beau Brummel | George Bryan Brummel (1778-1840), English socialite |
| Beaufort scale | Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), English surveyor and navy admiral |
| béchamel sauce | Marquis Louis de Béchamel (d.1703), steward of Louis XIV of France |
| becquerel | Antoine-Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), French physicist |
| Beef Stroganoff | Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganoff (1772-1817), Russian diplomat |
| begonia | Michel Bégon (1638-1710), French patron saint of science |
| bel | Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), Scottish-born American scientist |
| Belisha beacon | 1st Baron (Isaac) Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893-1957), British politician |
| Bell's Palsy | Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842), Scottish anatomist, surgeon and physiologist |
| Benedictine | St Benedict (c.480-c.547), French monk |
| Beranek scale | Leo R. Beranek (b. 1914), American acoustical engineer |
| Bessemer process | Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-98), British engineer |
| bignonia | Abbé Jean-Paul Bignon (1662-1743), French court librarian |
| bigot | Nathaniel Bigot (1575-1660), English Puritan teacher |
| Binet-Simon scale | Alfred Binet (1857-1911) and Théodore Simon (1873-1961), French psychologists |
| biotite | Jean Baptiste Biot (1774-1862), French physicist |
| Biro | László Jozsef Biró (1900-85), Hungarian inventor |
| Black Maria | Maria Lee, early 19th century American boarding-house keeper |
| bluetooth | Harald Blatand (translated as 'Bluetooth' in English) (c. 910-987), Viking king |
| blimp | Colonel Blimp, cartoon character by Sir David Low (1891-1963), New Zealand cartoonist |
| blondel | André Eugène Blondel (1863-1938), French physicist |
| Bloody Mary | Queen Mary I of England (1516-58) |
| bloomers | Amelia Jenkins Bloomer (1818-94), American feminist |
| blurb | Miss Belinda Blurb, picture by Gelett Burgess (1866-1951), American humorist and illustrator |
| Bo Diddley beat | Bo Diddley (born Ellas Bates; 1928), American musician |
| bobby | Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), British statesman and founder of London police force |
| boffin | Mr Boffin, character in the novel Our Mutual Friend (1864-5), by Charles Dickens (1812-70), English novelist |
| Bohr magneton | Niels Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962), Danish physicist |
| Bolivia | Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), South American soldier and statesman |
| Boolean logic | George Boole (1815-64), English mathematician |
| bougainvillaea | Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), French explorer |
| bowdlerise | Thomas Bowdler (1734-1825), British doctor |
| bowie knife | James Bowie (1799-1836), American soldier and adventurer |
| boycott | Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), Irish land agent |
| Boyle's law | Robert Boyle (1627-91), British physicist and chemist |
| boysenberry | Rudolph Boysen (d.1950), American botanist |
| braggadocio | Braggadocchio, character in the poem The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser (c.1552-99), English poet |
| Braille | Louis Braille (1809-52), French teacher, writer and musician |
| Bramley apple | Matthew Bramley, 19th century English butcher |
| brewster | Sir David Brewster (1781-1868), Scottish physicist |
| Brix scale | Adolf F. W. Brix (d. 1870), Austrian scientist |
| Broca's Aphasia | Pierre Paul Broca (1824-80), French pathologist, neurosurgeon and anthropologist |
| bromeliad | Olaf Bromelius (1639-1705), Swedish botanist |
| brougham | Lord Henry Peter Brougham (1778-1868), British statesman |
| Browning rifle | John Moses Browning (1834-1926), American firearm designer |
| Bubnoff unit | Serge von Bubnoff (1888-1957), Russian geologist |
| Buddhism; Buddhist | Buddha, title taken by Prince Gautama Siddharta (c.563-c.483BC), Hindu religious teacher |
| buddleia | Adam Buddle (c.1660-1715), English rector and botanist |
| buhlwork | A. C. Boule (1642-1732), French cabinet-maker |
| bunkum, bunk | Buncombe County, N Carolina, USA, named after Colonel Edward Buncombe, 19th century Revolutionary War hero |
| Bunsen burner | Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-99), German chemist |
| Buridan's ass | Jean Buridan (c.1295-1356), French philosopher |
| burke | William Burke, 19th century Irish smotherer |
| Burkitt's Lymphoma | Denis Parsons Burkitt (1911-93), British surgeon |
| Burnham scale | Harry Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham (1862-1933), English statesman |
| busby | Dr Richard Busby (1606-95), English headmaster |
| Byronic | George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824), English poet |
~ C ~ | |
| Cadmean victory | Cadmus, mythological Greek prince, the legendary founder of Thebes |
| Caesarean section | Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman emperor |
| Caesar salad | Caesar Cardini, Mexican restaurateur |
| calamine | As entry for Cadmean victory |
| Calvinism | John Calvin (1509-64), French theologian |
| camellia | George Josef Kamel (1661-1706), Moravian Jesuit missionary |
| cannibal | Canibales, Spanish name given by Christopher Columbus to the Caribs, the American Indian people of the Lesser Antilles & northern South America |
| cardigan | James Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868), British cavalry officer |
| Casanova | Giovanni Jacopo Casanova (1725-98), Italian adventurer |
| Cassandra | Cassandra, daughter of Priam, legendary Greek king of Troy |
| Catherine wheel | St Catherine of Alexandria, Christian martyr |
| Cattell scale | James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944), American psychologist |
| cattleya | William Cattley (d.1832), English botanist and horticultural patron |
| Celsius | Anders Celsius (1701-44), Swedish astronomer and scientist |
| cereal | Ceres, Roman goddess of grain and agriculture |
| Charles's law | Jacques Alexandre César Charles (1746-1823), French scientist |
| charlotte russe | Princess Charlotte (1796-1817), daughter of King George IV of England |
| chateaubriand | François René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), French writer and statesman |
| chauvinism | Nicolas Chauvin, French soldier in Napoleon's army |
| Chippendale | Thomas Chippendale (c.1718-79), English cabinet-maker and furniture disigner |
| churrigueresque | José Churriguera (1650-1725), Spanish architect and sculptor |
| cicerone | Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC), Roman orator and statesman |
| cinchona | Countess Ana de Chinchón (1576-1641), Spanish vicereine of Peru |
| clarence | King William IV of England (1765-1837) (formerly Duke of Clarence) |
| clasius | Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius (1822-88), German mathematical physicist |
| clerihew | Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), English writer |
| Colt pistol | Samuel Colt (1814-62), American engineer |
| comstockery | Anthony Comstock (1844-1915), American moral crusader |
| Confucianism | Confucius (551-479BC), Chinese philosopher |
| cordoba | Francisco Fernandez de Córdoba (c.1475-1526), Spanish soldier and explorer |
| Couéism | Emil Coué (1857-1926), French psychologist and chemist |
| coulomb | Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806), French physicist |
| cravat | Hrvat , 17th century French name for a native of Croatia |
| cretin | Crestin, Swiss name of a people who lived in the Swiss Alps |
| Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease | Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt (1885-1964) and Alfons Maria Jakob (1884-1931), German neurologists |
| Crohn's Disease | Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884-1983), American gastroenterologist |
| Cruft's | Charles Cruft (1852-1938), British dog breeder and showman |
| Cuisenaire rods | Emil-Georges Cuisenaire (c.1891-1976), Belgian educationalist |
| curie | Pierre (1859-1906) and Marie Curie (1867-1934), French scientists |
| Curzon line | George Nathaniel, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston (1859-1925), British politician |
| Cushing's disease | Harvey Williams Cushing (1869-1939), American neurosurgeon |
| Cyrillic | St Cyril (826-69) and St Methodius (c.815-85), Greek translators |
~ D ~ | |
| daguerrotype | Louis Jaques Mandé Daguerre (1789-1851), French painter and pioneering photographer |
| dahlia | Anders Dahl (1751-1789), Swedish botanist |
| daltonism/Dalton's law | John Dalton (1766-1844), English chemist |
| Dandie Dinmont terrier | Dandie Dinmont, character in Guy Mannering (1815) by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) |
| Dantean | Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet |
| Darby and Joan | John Darby (d.1730, English printer, and his wife Joan |
| Darwinian | Charles Darwin (1809-82), English naturalist |
| Davis Cup | Dwight Filley Davis (1879-1945), American statesman and sportsman |
| Davy lamp | Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), British chemist |
| debey | Peter Joseph Wilhelm Debey (1884-1966), German scientist |
| decibel | Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), Scottish-born American scientist |
| Derby | Edward Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752-1834) |
| derrick | Goodman Derrick, 17th century English hangman |
| derringer | Henry Deringer (1786-1868), American gunsmith |
| deutzia | Jean Deutz (c.1743-c.1784), Dutch patron of botany |
| Dewar flask | Sir James Dewar (1842-1923), Scottish chemist and physicist |
| Dewey Decimal System | Melvil Dewey (1851-1931), American librarian |
| Dickensian | Charles Dickens (1812-70), English novelist |
| diddle | Jeremy Diddler, character in Raising the Wind by dramatist James Kenney (1780-1849) |
| diesel | Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), German mechanical engineer |
| Dionysian | Dionysus, Greek god of wine, fruitfulness and vegetation |
| Dioscorea | Dioscorides Pedanius (c.Ad40-c.90), Greek physician |
| Doberman Pinscher | Ludwig Dobermann, 19th century German dog breeder |
| doggerel | Matthew Doggerel (1330-1405), English poet |
| doily | Mr Doyley (first name unknown), 17th century London draper |
| dolomite | Deodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801), French geologist |
| Doppler effect | Christian Johann Doppler (1803-53), Austrian physicist |
| Douglas fir | David Douglas (1798-1834), Scottish botanist |
| Douglas scale | Sir Henry P. Douglas (1876-1939), English meteorologist |
| Dow-Jones index | Charles Henry Dow (1851-1902) and Edward D. Jones (1856-1920), American financial statisticians |
| Downing Street | Sir George Downing (1623-84), English statesman |
| Down's syndrome | John Langdon-Down (1828-96), English physician |
| draconian | Draco, 7th century BC Athenian law-giver |
| dunce | John Duns Scotus (c.1265-1308), Scottish theologian |
~ E ~ | |
| Eggs Benedict | Commodore E. C. Benedict (1834-1920), American banker and yachtsman |
| Eiffel Tower | Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), French engineer |
| einstein, einsteinium | Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American physicist |
| Eisenmenger's Complex | Victor Eisenmenger (1864-1932), Austrian physician |
| Electra complex | Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology |
| Elgin Marbles | Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841), British ambassador |
| Elizabethan | Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) |
| éminence grise | Éminence gris, nickname of Père Joseph (François le Clerc du Tremblay 1577-1638), French friar and diplomat |
| Eotvos unit | Roland, Baron von Eötvös (1848-1919), Hungarian physicist |
| epicure; Epicurean | Epicurus (341-270BC), Greek philosopher |
| Erastianism | Thomas Erastus (1524-83), Swiss theologian |
| erlang | Agner Krarup Erlang (1878-1929), Dutch scientist |
| erotic | Eros, Greek god of love |
| eschscholtzia | Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz (1793-1834), Russian-born German naturalist |
| Esperanto | Dr Esperanto, pseudonym of Lazarus Ludwig Zamenhof (1859-1917), Polish doctor and linguist |
| Euclidean geometry | Euclid, 3rd century BC Greek mathematician |
| euhemerism | Ehhemerus, 4th century Sicilian Greek philosopher |
| euphorbia | Euphorbus, 1st century AD Greek physician |
| euphuism | Euphues, character in the prose romance in two parts Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and his England (1580) by English writer John Lyly (c.1554-1606) |
| Eustachian tube | Bartolommeo Eustachio (1524-74), Greek philosopher |
~ F ~ | |
| Fahrenheit | Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), German scientist |
| Falkland Islands | Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland (c.1610-43), English secretary of state |
| Fallopian tube | Gabriel Fallopius (1523-62), Italian anatomist |
| Fanconi's Syndrome | Guido Fanconi (1892-1979), Swiss paediatrician |
| farad, faraday | Michael Faraday (1791-1867), British chemist and physicist |
| faun; fauna | Faunus, Roman god of pastures and forests |
| fermi, fermium | Enrico Fermi (1901-54), Italian-born American physicist |
| Ferris wheel | George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-96), American engineer |
| Fibonacci Numbers | Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci (1170-1250), Italian mathematician |
| filbert | Saint Philibert (d.684), Frankish abbot whose feast day (22 Aug) marks the ripening season of the nuts |
| flora | Flora, Roman goddess of flowers, youth and spring |
| Fokker airplane | Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker (1890-1939), Dutch-born aircraft designer and manufacturer |
| Forel scale | François-Alphonse Forel (1841-1912), Swiss physiologist and anatomist |
| forsythia | William Forsyth (1737-1804), British botanist |
| Fosbury Flop | Dick Fosbury (b1947), American athlete |
| frangipani | Marquis Frangipani, 16th century Italian nobleman |
| Fraunhofer lines | Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826), German physicist and optician |
| freesia | Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (d.1876), German physician |
| fresnel | Augustin Jean Fresnel (1788-1827), French physicist |
| Freudian slip | Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Austrian psychiatrist |
| Friday | Frig (or Frigga), Norse goddess of married love |
| fuchsia | Leonard Fuchs (1501-66), German botanist and physician |
| Fujita scale | Tetsuya Theodore Fujita (1920-98), American meteorologist |
~ G ~ | |
| gadolinite, gadolinium | Johann Gadolin (1760-1852), Finnish chemist |
| gal, Galilean | Galileo (1564-1642), Italian astronomer |
| galenical | Galen (AD129-199), Greek physician |
| Gallup poll | George Horace Gallup (1901-84), American statistician |
| galvanise | Luigi Galvani (1739-98), Italian physiologist |
| gamp | Mrs Sarah Gamp, nurse in the novel Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens |
| gardenia | Alexander Garden (1730-91), Scottish-American botanist |
| gargantuan | Gargantua, gigantic king in the novel Gargantua by French satirist Francois Rabelais (c.1494-1553) |
| garibaldi biscuit | Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), Italian patriot and soldier |
| Gatling gun | Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903), American inventor |
| Gaullism; Gaullist | Charles (André Joseph Marie) de Gaulle (1890-1970), French General and President |
| gauss | Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), German mathematician |
| Gay-Lussac's law | Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850), French scientist |
| Geiger counter | Hans Geiger (1882-1945), German physicist |
| gentian | Gentius, 2nd century-BC king of Illyria |
| georgette | Madame Georgette de la Plante, late 19th century French dressmaker |
| Georgia | King George II of England, (1683-1760) |
| Georgian | Reigns of Kings George I to George IV of England (1714-1830) |
| gerrymander | Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), American politician |
| Gideons | Gideon, Old Testament judge |
| gilbert | William Gilbert (1544-1603), English scientist |
| Gilbert's Syndrome | Nicolas Augustin Gilbert (1858-1927), French physician |
| Gilbertian | Sir William Schwenk Gilbert (1836-1911), English comic dramatist |
| Gladstone bag | William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), British statesman and prime minister |
| Goethian; goethite | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, writer, scholar and scientist |
| golliwog | Golliwog, animated doll in children's books by Bertha Upton (d.1912), American writer |
| Gongorism | Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561-1627), Spanish priest and lyric poet |
| Gordon Bennett! | Gordon Bennet (1841-1918), American newspaper proprietor |
| Gordon setter | Alexander Gordon (1743-1827), Scottish nobleman |
| Gothic | The Goths, a Germanic people who originated in Scandinavia |
| Graafian follicle | Regnier de Graaf (1641-73), Dutch physician and anatomist |
| gradgrind | Thomas Gradgrind, character in novel Hard Times (1854) by Charles Dickens |
| graham bread/cracker/flour | Sylvester Graham (1794-1851), American dietary reformer |
| grangerise | James Granger (1723-76), English writer and clergyman |
| Granny Smith apple | Maria Ann Smith (d 1870), Australian gardener |
| Graves' disease | Robert James Graves (1796-1853), Irish physician |
| gray | Louis Harold Gray (1905-65), English physicist and radiologist |
| greengage | Sir William Gage (1777-1864), English botanist |
| Gregorian calendar | Pope Gregory XIII (born Ugo Buoncampagno; 1502-1585) |
| Gregorian chant | Pope Gregory I (c.AD540-604) |
| Gresham's law | Sir Thomas Gresham (c.1519-79), English financier |
| Grimm's law | Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785-1863), German philologist |
| grog, groggy | Old Grog, nickname of Sir Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral |
| guillemot | Guillemot, affectionate form of Guillaume, the French version of the English name William |
| guillotine | Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814, French physician |
| gun | Gunhildr, Old Norse female name |
| Gunter's chain; gunter rig | Edmund Gunter (1581-1626), English mathematician and astronomer |
| guppy | Robert J. L. Guppy (1836-1916), Trinidad born British scientist |
| Guttman scale | Louis Guttman (1916-87), American psychologist and mathematician |
| guy | Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), English conspirator |
~ H ~ | |
| Hadrian's Wall | Hadrian (AD76-138), Roman emperor |
| Halley's comet | Edmund Halley (1656-1742), British astronomer |
| Hansard | Luke Hansard (1752-1828), English printer |
| hansom cab | Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-82), English architect |
| hartree | Douglas Rayner Hartree (1897-1958), English mathematician and physicist |
| havelock | Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), British general |
| Heath Robinson | William Heath Robinson (1872-1944), English artist |
| Heaviside layer | Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925), British physicist |
| hector | Hector, Greek legendary character |
| hefner candle | Friedrich Franz von Hefner-Alteneck (1845-1904), German engineer |
| Heimlich Manoeuvre | Dr Henry Heimlich (b1920), American physician |
| henry | Joseph Henry (1797-1878), American physicist |
| Hepplewhite | George Hepplewhite (d.1786), English cabinet-maker |
| herculean | Hercules, Greek demigod |
| hermaphrodite | Hermaphroditos, Greek mythical son of Hermes and Aphrodite |
| hermetic | Hermes Trismegistus, Greek name of Egyptian god of learning |
| hertz | Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857-94), German physicist |
| Hilary term | St Hilary of Poitiers (c.315-c.367) |
| Hindenburg line | Paul von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847-1934), German general |
| Hippocratic oath | Hippocrates (c.460-c.377BC), Greek physician |
| Ho Chi Minh City | Ho Chi Minh (original name Nguyen That Thanh; 1890-69), Vietnamese statesman |
| Hobson's choice | Thomas Hobson (1544-1631), English liveryman |
| Hodgkin's disease | Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866), English physician |
| hooligan | Patrick Hooligan, Irish criminal active in London in the 1890s |
| Hoover | William Henry Hoover (1849-1932), American businessman |
| Huntingdon's chorea | George S. Huntingdon (1851-1916), American neurologist |
| hyacinth | Hyacinthus, attractive youth in Greek mythology |
| hygiene | Hygeia, Greek goddess of health |
| hypnosis | Hypnos, Greek god of sleep |
~ I ~ | |
| Iris | Iris, Greek goddess of the rainbow |
~ J ~ | |
| jackanapes | Jack Napes, nickname of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk (d. 1450), English nobleman |
| Jack Russell terrier | John (Jack) Russell (1795-1883), English clergyman |
| Jacquard loom | Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834), French weaver and inventor |
| Jacuzzi | Candido Jacuzzi (1903-86), Italian/US inventor and businessman |
| jansky | Karl C. Jansky (1905-50), Czech-born American radio engineer |
| January | Janus, Roman god of doors, thresholds and bridges |
| JCB | Initials of Joseph Cyril Bamford (b.1916), English manufacturer |
| Jekyll and Hyde | Main character in novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) |
| jeremiad | Jeremiah, Old Testament prophet |
| jeroboam | Jeroboam, first king of the northern kingdom of Israel |
| jerry can | Jerry, the word for a German or German soldier |
| Jezebel | Jezebel, biblical figure, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and Sidon |
| Jonah | Jonah, Hebrew prophet |
| jorum | Joram, character in Old Testament (II Samuel 8:10) |
| joule | James Prescott Joule (1818-89), English physicist |
| jovial | Jove, an older name for Jupiter, supreme god of Roman mythology |
| Judas | Judas Iscariot, Christ's betrayer |
| juggernaut | Jagannath, Lord of the World, title of Hindu god Vishnu |
| Julian calendar | Julius Caesar, 44BC Roman emperor |
| July | As entry for Julian calendar |
| jumbo | Jumbo, 6½ ton African elephant exhibited at London Zoo from 1865 to 1882 |
| June; Junoesque | Juno, Roman goddess of the moon, women and marriage |
~ K ~ | |
| Kafkaesque | Franz Kafka (1883-1924), Austro-Hungarian, then Czech writer |
| kayser | Heinrich Gustav Johannes Kayser (1853-1940), German physicist |
| kelvin | William Thomson Kelvin, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907), Scottish physicist |
| Klein bottle | Felix Klein (1849-1925), German mathematician |
| klieg light | John H. (1869-1959) and Anton T. Kleigl (1872-1927), American lighting experts |
| knickerbockers | Dietrich Knickerbocker, pseudonym of Washington Irving (1783-1859), American author |
| Köchel number | Ludwig von Köchel (1800-77), Austrian botanist and cataloguer |
~ L ~ | |
| Lamaze Method | Fernand Lamaze (1890-1957), French obstetrician |
| lambert | Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728-77), German scientist |
| langley | Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), American astronomer |
| lawrencium | Ernest Orlando Lawrence (1901-58), American physicist |
| Leninism; Leningrad | Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924), Russian statesman |
| leotard | Jules Léotard (1842-70), French acrobat |
| lesbian | Sappho of Lesbos (c. 600 BC), Greek poetess |
| Levis | Levi Strauss (1830-1902), Bavarian immigrant to the USA and clothing merchant |
| lewisite | Winford Lee Lewis (1878-1943), American chemist |
| Linnaean | Carolus Linnaeus (1707-78; original name Carl von Linné), Swedish botanist |
| lobelia | Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616), Flemish botanist and physician |
| Lobster Newburg | Ben Wenberg, West Indies ship captain |
| loganberry | James Harvey Logan (1841-1928), American judge |
| Lonsdale belt | Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale (1857-1944), English sportsman |
| Lucullan | Lucius Licinus Lucullus (c.110-57BC), Roman general |
| Luddite | Ned Ludd, 18th century English labourer |
| lynch | William Lynch (1742-1820), American plantation owner and vigilante |
~ M ~ | |
| macadam | John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish engineer |
| macadamia nut | John Macadam (1827-65), Australian scientist |
| Mach number | Ernst Mach (1838-1916), Austrian physicist and philosopher |
| Machiavellian | Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian political theorist |
| mackintosh | Charles Mackintosh (1760-1843), Scottish chemist |
| madeleine | Madeleine Paulmier, 19th century French pastrycook |
| Mae West | Mae West (1892-1980), American actress |
| Maginot line | André Maginot (1877-1932), French WWII minister of war |
| magnolia | Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), French botanist |
| malapropism | Mrs Malaprop, character in play The Rivals by Irish dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) |
| Malpighian corpuscle/layer | Marcello Malpighi (1628-94), Italian physiologist |
| Malthusian | Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), English economist |
| mansard roof | François Mansart (1598-1666), French classical architect |
| Maoism | Mao Tse-tung (Chinese, Mao Zedong; 1893-1976), Chinese revolutionary |
| marcel | Marcel Grateau (1852-1936), French hairdresser |
| March | Mars, Roman god of war |
| marigold | Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus |
| marmalade | Joao Marmalado (1450-1510), Portugal |
| martin | St Martin, 4th-century Bishop of Tours |
| martinet | Jean Martinet, French army officer during the reign of Louis XIV |
| Marxism | Karl Marx (1818-83), German political philosopher |
| masochism | Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-95), Austrian novelist |
| maudlin | Mary Magdalen, who wept at the empty tomb after the resurrection of Jesus |
| Mauser | Peter Paul von Mauser (1838-1914) and brother Wilhelm (1834-82), German firearms inventors |
| mausoleum | King Mausolus, ruler of Caria in ancient Greece |
| maverick | Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-70), American pioneer |
| Maxim gun | Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-1916), US-born British inventor |
| maxwell | James Clerk Maxwell (1831-79), Scottish physicist |
| May | Maia, Roman goddess of spring and fertility |
| Melba toast | Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931), Australian soprano |
| mendelevium | Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev (1834-1907), Russian chemist |
| Mendel's laws | Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-84), Austrian botanist |
| Mennonite | Menno Simons (1492-1559), Dutch religious reformer |
| mentor | Mentor, Odysseus's loyal friend in Homer's Odyssey |
| Mercalli scale | Giuseppe Mercalli (1850-1914), Italian volcanologist |
| Mercator projection | Gerardus Mercator (original name Gerhard Kremer; 1512-94), Flemish geographer |
| mesmerise | Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Austrian physician and hypnotist |
| Messerschmitt | Willy Messerschmitt (1898-1978), German aircraft designer |
| methuselah | Methuselah, Old Testament patriarch (Genesis 5:27) |
| Mickey Finn | Mickey Finn, Chicago saloon-keeper at the end of the 19th century |
| mint | Juno, Roman goddess known by the title Moneta, 'the admonisher' |
| mithridatism | Mithridates VI, called the Great (c.132-63BC), king of Pontus |
| Möbius strip | August Ferdinand Möbius (1780-1868), German mathematician |
| mogul | Mogul, a member of the Muslim dynasty of rulers in 16th -17th century India |
| Mohs scale | Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839), German minerologist |
| molly | Comte Nicolas-François Mollien (1758-1850), French statesman |
| Molotov cocktail | Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890-1986), Soviet statesman |
| Montbretia | A. F. E. Coquebert de Montbret (1780-1801), French botanist |
| Montessori method | Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Italian physician |
| Montezuma's revenge | Montezuma II (1480-1520), ruler of the Aztec Empire of Mexico |
| Moog synthesiser | Robert Arthur Moog (b.1934), American physicist, engineer and electrician |
| Moonie | Sun Myung Moon (original name Yong Myung Moon; b.1920), Korean industrialist |
| morgan | Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945), American physiologist |
| morphine | Morpheus, Greek god of dreams |
| Morrison shelter | Herbert Stanley Morrison (1888-1965), British statesman |
| Morse code | Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), American artist and inventor |
| Mount Everest | Sir George Everest (1790-1866), English surveyor-general of India |
| Mrs Mop | Mrs Mopp, character in the BBC radio programme ITMA during WWII |
~ N ~ | |
| namby-pamby | Nickname of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), English poet |
| Napoleonic | Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French emperor |
| Napierian, Napier's Bones | John Napier (1550-1647), Scottish mathematician |
| narcissism | Narcissus, beautiful young man of Greek mythology |
| nebuchadnezzar | Nebuchadnezzar, Old Testament king of Babylon |
| negus | Colonel Francis Negus (d.1732), English soldier |
| nemesis | Nemesis, Greek goddess of retribution |
| nestor | Nestor, king of Pylos in Greek legend |
| newton | Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), British physicist and mathematician |
| nicotine | Jean Nicot (1530-1600), French diplomat |
| Nissen hut | Lieutenant Colonel Peter Norman Nissen (1871-1930), British mining engineer |
| Nobel prize, nobelium | Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-96), Swedish chemist, manufacturer and philanthropist |
| nosey parker | Matthew Parker (1504-75), Anglican churchman |
~ O ~ | |
| Ockham's razor | William of Ockham (c.1285-1349), English philosopher and Franciscan |
| Oedipus complex | Oedipus, character in Greek mythology |
| oersted | H. C. Oersted (1777-1851), Danish physicist |
| ohm | Georg Simon Ohm (1787-1854), German physicist |
| onanism | Onan, biblical character |
| Orangeman | William III (1650-1702), Protestant king of England |
| orrery | Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1676-1731) |
| Orwellian | George Orwell (real name, Eric Arthur Blair; 1903-50), English novelist |
| Oscar | Oscar Pierce, American wheat and fruit grower |
| Otto engine | Nikolaus August Otto (1832-91), German engineer |
| ottoman | Othman, original name of Osman I (1259-1326), sultan of Turkey |
~ P ~ | |
| paean, peony | Apollo (title, Paion), god of healing and physician of the gods in Greek mythology |
| Palladian | Andrea Palladio (1508-80), Italian architect |
| palladium | Wooden statue of the Greek goddess Pallas Athene |
| pander | Pandarus, character in poem Filostrato by the Italian Giovanni Boccaccio |
| Pandora's box | Pandora ('all gifts'), in Greek mythology, the first woman |
| panic | Pan, Greek god of woods, shepherds and flocks |
| pantaloon/pants | San Pantaleone, 4th century Venetian physician and saint |
| Pap test (or smear) | George Nicholas Papanicolaou (1883-1962), Greek-born American anatomist |
| Pareto principle | Vilfredo Frederico Pareto (1848-1923), Italian economist and sociologist |
| Parkinson's disease | James Parkinson (1755-1824), British physician |
| Parkinson's law | Cyril Northcote Parkinson (b.1909), English historian and author |
| pascal | Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician |
| pasteurise | Louise Pasteur (1822-95), French chemist and bacteriologist |
| Pauling scale | Linus Carl Pauling (1901-94), American physical chemist |
| pavlova | Anna Pavlova (1885-1931), Russian ballerina |
| Pavlovian | Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist |
| Peach Melba | Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931), Australian soprano |
| pecksniffian | Seth Pecksniff, character in novel Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-4) by Charles Dickens |
| Pennsylvania | Sir William Penn (1621-70), British admiral |
| Peter principle | Dr Laurence J. Peter (b.1919), Canadian educator |
| petersham | Charles Stanhope, Viscount Petersham, 4th Earl of Harrington (1780-1851), English army officer |
| Petrarchan sonnet | Petrarch (Italian name, Francesco Petrarca; 1304-74), Italian poet |
| Petri dish | Julius Petri (1852-1921), German bacteriologist |
| pinchbeck | Christopher Pinchbeck (c.1670-1732), English watchmaker |
| Planck's constant | Max K. E. L. Planck (1858-1947), German physicist |
| platonic | Plato (c.427-347BC), Greek philosopher |
| Plinean eruption | Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) (c. A.D.23-A.D.79), Roman naturalist |
| Plimsoll line, plimsoll | Samuel Plimsoll (1824-98), English shipping reform leader |
| poinsettia | Noel Roberts Poinsett (1779-151), American diplomat |
| poise | J. L. M. Poiseuille (1799-1869), French physician |
| pompadour | Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise De Pompadour (1721-64), French aristocrat |
| poncelet | Jean Victor Pocelet (1788-1867), French mathematician |
| Ponzi Scheme | Carlo Ponzi (1882-1949), Italian-born American swindler |
| praline | César de Choiseul, Count Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), French field marshal |
| Pre-Raphaelite | Raphael (original name Raffaello Santi; 1483-1520), Italian painter |
| Procrustean | Procrustes, robber in Greek mythology |
| Promethean | Prometheus, demigod in Greek mythology |
| protean | Proteus, sea god in Greek mythology |
| Pulitzer prize | Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), Hungarian-born US newspaper publisher |
| Pullman | George Mortimer Pullman (1831-97), American inventor |
| pyrrhic victory | Pyrrhus (c.318-272 BC), king of Epirus |
| Pythagoras's theorem | Pythagoras (c569-c575BC), Greek philosopher and mathematician |
| python | Python, monstrous serpent in Greek mythology |
~ Q ~ | |
| quassia | Graman Quassi, 18th century Surinam negro slave |
| Queensberry rules | John Sholto Douglas, 8th Marquess of Queensberry (1844-1900) |
| quisling | Vidkun Abraham Quisling (1887-1945), Norwegian politician |
| Quixotic | Don Quixote, hero of novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) |
~ R ~ | |
| Rabelaisian | François Rabelais (1483-1553), French writer |
| Rachmanism | Peter (Perec) Rachman (1920-62), Polish-born British landlord |
| Rafflesia | Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), British colonial administrator |
| raglan | Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788-1855), British field marshal |
| Rankine scale | William John Macquorn Rankine (1820-72), Scottish civil engineer |
| Rastafarian | Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Emperor of Ethiopia 1930, title Ras Tafari |
| rayl, rayleigh | John William Strutt, 3rd Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919), British physicist |
| Raynaud's disease | Maurice Raynaud (1834-81), French physician |
| Réaumur scale | Réne Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683-1757), French scientist |
| rehoboam | Rehoboam, Old Testament son of Solomon, king of Israel & Judah |
| Reuters | Baron Paul Julius von Reuter (original name Israel Beer Josaphat; 1816-99), German newsman |
| Reynolds number, reyn | Osborne Reynolds (1842-1912), English physicist |
| rhesus monkey, Rh factor | Rhesus, king of Thrace, in Greek mythology |
| riccettsia | Howard T. Ricketts (1871-1910), American pathologist |
| Richter scale | Charles Richter (1900-85), American seismologist |
| Ringelmann scale | Maximilien Ringelmann (1861-1931), German agricultural engineer |
| ritzy | César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier |
| rodomontade | Rodomont, Saracen king of Algiers in Ariosto's Orlando Innamorato & Orlando Furioso |
| Rolls-Royce | Charles Stewart Rolls (1877-1910) and Sir Frederick Henry Royce (1836-1933), English car manufacturers |
| roentgen/röntgen | Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen (1845-1923), German physicist |
| Rorschach test | Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922), Swiss psychiatrist |
| Rubenesque | Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Flemish painter |
| Rubik's cube | Ernö Rubik (b.1944), Hungarian designer, sculptor and architect |
| Rudbeckia | Olof Rudbeck (1630-1702), Swedish botanist |
| rutherford | Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford (1871-1937), British physicist |
| rydberg | Johannes Robert Rydberg (1854-1919), Swedish physicist |
~ S ~ | |
| sabin | Wallace Clement Sabine (1868-1919), American physicist |
| Sabin vaccine | Albert Bruce Sabin (b.1906), Polish-born American microbiologist |
| sadism | Count Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814), French soldier and writer |
| St Bernard dog | St Bernard of Menthon (923-1008) Italian churchman |
| Salisbury Steak | James J. Salisbury, 19th century English physician |
| Salk vaccine | Jonas Edward Salk (b.1914), American microbiologist |
| salmonella | Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914), American veterinary surgeon |
| Sam Browne belt | Sir Samuel J. Browne (1824-1901), British army officer |
| samarskite | Colonel M. von Samarski, Russian mine official |
| sandwich | John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), English diplomat |
| Sanforise | Sandford Lockwood Cluett (1840-1968), American inventor |
| Saturday | Saturn, Roman god of agriculture |
| savarin | Antheline Brillat-Savarin (d. 1826), French politician and gourmet |
| savart | Félix Savart (1791-1841), French physicist |
| saxhorn, saxophone | Adolphe Sax (1814-94), Belgian musical-instrument maker |
| sequoia | Sequoya (c.1770-1843), American Indian |
| Shakespearean | William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English dramatist and poet |
| Shavian | George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish dramatist and socialist |
| shrapnel | Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), English artillery officer |
| sideburns | Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-81), American general |
| siemens | Ernst Werner von Siemens (1816-92), German electrical engineer |
| sievert | R. M. Sievert (1896-1966), Swedish physicist |
| silhouette | Étienne de Silhouette (1709-67), French politician |
| silly-billy | William IV (1765-1837), English king |
| simony | Simon Magus, 1st century astrologer from Samaria |
| slave | Sclavus, Medieval Latin word for 'a Slav', a member of the Slavonic people of central Europe |
| smithsonite; Smithsonian Institution | James Smithson (original name James Lewes Macie; 1765-1829), English chemist |
| Snellen scale | Hermann Snellen (1834-1908), Dutch ophthalmologist |
| Socratic method/irony | Socrates (c.470-399BC), Greek philosopher |
| sophist; sophistry; sophism | The sophists, 5th & 4th century BC Greek itinerant teachers |
| soubise | Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise (1715-87), French nobleman |
| sousaphone | John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932), American composer and bandleader |
| spaniel | Espaigneul, Old French word meaning 'Spanish' |
| spencer | George John Spencer, 2nd Earl of Spencer (1758-1834), English politician |
| Spenserian stanza/sonnet | Edmund Spenser (c.1552-99), English poet |
| Spode | Josiah Spode (1754-1827), British potter |
| spoonerism | Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), English churchman |
| Stalinism | Joseph Stalin (original name Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; 1879-1953), Soviet leader |
| stentorian | Stentor, herald in Greek mythology |
| stetson | John Bauerson Stetson (1830-1906), American hat-maker |
| stoic | The Stoics, a school of ancient Greek philosophers |
| stokes | George G. Stokes (1819-1903) |
| stonewall | Stonewall Jackson, nickname of Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824-63), American general |
| Svedberg | Theodor S. Svedberg (1884-1971), Swedish chemist |
| Svengali | Character in Trilby, novel by English artist and writer George du Maurier (1834-96) |
| sverdrup | Harald Ulrich Sverdrup (1888-1957), Norwegian meteorologist and oceanographer |
| Swedenborgian | Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), Swedish philosopher and mystic |
| Swiftian | Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Anglo-Irish clergyman, poet and satirist |
| syphilis | Syphilis, character in the poem Syphilis seve Morbus Gallicus by Girolamo Fracastro (1483-1553) |
~ T ~ | |
| talbot, talbotype | William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77), British scientist |
| tam o' shanter | Hero of poem Tam o' Shanter (1791), by Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-96) |
| tantalise | Tantalus, mythical king of Phrygia |
| tarmac | (short for 'tarmacadam') John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish engineer |
| Tasmania | Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603-59), Dutch navigator |
| tattersall | Richard Tattersall (1724-95), English horseman |
| tawdry | St Audrey (Ethelrida; d.679), Queen of Northumbria, patron saint of Ely |
| teddy bear | Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), American president |
| Teddy boy | Edward VII (1841-1910), English king |
| tesla | Nikola Tesla (1857-1943), Croatian-born American electrician and inventor |
| tetrazzini | Luisa Tetrazzini (1874-1940), Italian opera singer |
| Thatcherism | Margaret Hilda Thatcher (b.1925), British politician and prime minister |
| theremin | Lev Theremin (1896-1993), Russian engineer |
| thespian | Thespis, 6th century Greek poet |
| Thursday | Thor, Norse god of thunder |
| timothy | Timothy Hanson, American famer through whom it first came into use as a fodder grass |
| titan; titanic | The Titans, 12 primeval gigantic gods and goddesses in Greek mythology |
| titchy | Harry Relph (1867-1928), English actor, stage name Little Titch |
| Titian | Titian (c.1487-1576), Italian painter |
| Tommy gun | John Taliaferro Thompson (1860-1940), American army general |
| tontine | Lorenzo Tonti (1620-95), Neopolitan banker |
| Tony | Antoinette Perry (1888-1946), American actress |
| torr, Torricellian | Evangelista Torricelli (1608-47), Italian physicist and mathematician |
| tradescantia | John Tradescant (c.1570-1638), English traveller and gardener |
| trilby | Trilby, novel by English artist and writer George du Maurier (1834-96) |
| troland | Leonard T. Troland (1889-1932), American biochemist |
| Trotskyism | Leon Trotsky (original name Lev Davidovich Bronstein; 1879-1940), Russian revolutionary |
| trudgen | John Arthur Trudgen (1860-1940), English swimmer |
| Tuesday | Tiw (or Tyr), Anglo-Saxon god of war and the sky |
| Uzi | Uziel Gal (1923-2002), Israeli inventor |
~ V ~ | |
| valentine | Valentine, 3rd century Christian martyr |
| Van Allen belts | James Alfred Van Allen (b.1914), American physicist |
| vandal | The Vandals, Germanic people that overran Gaul, Spain, North Africa and Rome in the 5th century |
| venereal | Venus, Roman goddess of love |
| Venn diagram | John Venn (1834-1923), English mathematician and logician |
| vernier | Pierre Vernier (1580-1637), French mathematician |
| Very light/pistol | Edward W. Very (1847-1910), American naval officer |
| vesta; vestal | Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth |
| Victorian | Queen Victoria of England (1819-1901) |
| volcano, vulcanise | Vulcan, Roman god of fire and metalworking |
| volt | Count Alessandron Volta (1745-1827), Italian physicist |
~ W ~ | |
| Wagnerian | Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-83), German composer |
| Wankel engine | Felix Wankel (b.1902), German engineer |
| Washington | George Washington (1732-99), American statesman and US president |
| Wassermann test | August von Wassermann (1866-1925), German bacteriologist |
| Watt | James Watt (1736-1819), Scottish engineer and inventor |
| Watteau back/hat | Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), French painter |
| weber | Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804-91), German physicist |
| Wechsler scale | David Wechsler (1896-1981), American psychologist |
| Wedgwood | Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95), English potter |
| Wednesday | Woden, god of wisdom, culture and war |
| wellington boot | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), British soldier and statesman |
| Wendy house | Wendy, girl in the play Peter Pan by Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) |
| Wentworth scale | C. K. Wentworth (1891-1969), American geologist |
| Wesleyan | John Wesley (1703-91), English preacher |
| Whightman Cup | Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman (1886-1974), American tennis player |
| Winchester rifle | Oliver Fisher Winchester (1810-80), American manufacturer |
| wisteria | Caspar Wistar (1761-1818), American anatomist |
~ Y ~ | |
| Yale lock | Linus Yale (1821-68), American locksmith |
| yarborough | Charles Anderson Worsley, 2nd Earl of Yarborough (d.1897), English nobleman |
~ Z ~ | |
| zany | Zanni, traditional masked clown in the Italian commedia dell'arte |
| Zeppelin | Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), German general and aeronautical pioneer |
| zinnia | Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-59), German botanist and anatomist |
| Zoroastrianism | Zoroaster (c.660-583), Persian prophet |
| Zwinglian | Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), Swiss theologian |
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