Eponyms in english

VOCABULARY: EPONYMS
Words in all languages have various origins. Perhaps one of the most exciting ways for a lexical unit to come into existence is being named after a person. (But hey, we didn’t ask words if it’s true.) Such words are called “eponyms”. Here are some.

NICOTINE
This is Jean Nicot (1530-1604). He was a French diplomat and scholar. Nicot brought snuff tobacco to the French royal court and promoted its medicinal applications. The weed really caught on and was named after him by Carl Linnaeus, as was the substance. In our opinion, it gives Nicot a bad name. However, he also contributed to language in a good way: Nicot compiled one of the first dictionaries of French.

SADISM
This is Marquis de Sade (1740-1814). He was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer. De Sade wrote about deriving pleasure from violence, which is not right in our opinion. He was persecuted for his ideas and lived an unconforming life. However controversial the person, a common modern word is derived from de Sade’s name.

BOYCOTT
This is Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897). He was an English and Irish land agent. During the Irish Land War Boycott demanded some payments and threatened to evict several tenants, who were unable to pay due to the poor harvest. In 1880 Boycott was deliberately shun and refused any services. He had to leave Ireland. The protesters made a point and cost the government a lot of pounds. (The war wasn’t over with that.)