* * *
The name of a disease, structure, operation, or procedure, usually derived from the name of the person who discovered or described it first. [G. eponymos, named after]
* * *
ep·onym 'ep-ə-.nim n
1) the person for whom something (as a disease) is or is believed to be named
2) a name (as of a drug or a disease) based on or derived from the name of a person
* * *
n.
a disease, structure, or species named after a particular person, usually the person who first discovered or described it. Eponyms are widespread in medicine, but they are being replaced as more descriptive terms become necessary. Thus the eponyms islets of Langerhans, aqueduct of Sylvius, and Hashimoto's disease are more likely to be designated in text books as pancreatic islands, cerebral aqueduct, and autoimmune thyroiditis, respectively.
• eponymous adj.
Medical dictionary. 2011.