Meanings
deonym1
plural deonyms
- A term which derives from a proper name (proper noun), such as brand name (genericized trademark), a given name or surname (eponym), or a place name (toponym).
[…] increased occurrence of deonyms. Among them, nearly half come from trade names (company names, brand names or product names). This chapter aims to study deonyms deriving from trade names.
2013, Oliviu Felecan, Onomastics in Contemporary Public Space, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 1722 more examples
In linguistics, such terms that have managed the transformation from a proper brand name to a generic name are called deonyms […] The field of deonyms is not limited to brand names: The verb “röntgen,” for example, is derived from the discoverer of the rays named after him and is also a deonym.
2021, Doris Berger-Grabner, Strategic Retail Management and Brand Management: Trends, Tactics, and Examples, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, →ISBN, page 318A third name for common words from proper nouns is the lexical type deonyms (with the study of deonyms referred to as deonomastics) (cf., e.g., La Stella 1984). For this chapter, eponym shall be defined as 'word going back to a proper noun (e.g. anthroponym, toponym, ethnonym)'.
2025, Joachim Grzega, The Routledge Handbook of Eurolinguistics, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN
deonym2
plural deonyms
- Synonym of theonym.
The Anglo-Saxon root Tues is related to the Teutonic deonym Tiwas, in turn related to the Latin Deus, the Baltic Dievas, and the Sanskrit Deva.
2012 December 6, C. Musés, Destiny and Control in Human Systems: Studies in the Interactive Connectedness of Time (Chronotopology), Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 1242 more examples
A similar phenomenon occurs often, and also in connection with old Celtic toponyms which, if deonyms, were often suppressed by the growing might of the Church, […] [these other] deonyms serve to prove the Pelasgians spoke an Indo-European language far[…]
1963, Congrès international d'études gauloises, celtiques et protoceltiques, ActesIt is a known fact that many Greek deonyms are not based [on] Hellenic roots (just as the oldest Sumerian place and river [name]s are neither Sumerian nor Semitic […]
1979, The Journal of Indo-European StudiesSynonyms: theonym
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of theonym.
Origin
deonym · noun
From de- + -onym (“name”). Compare Italian deonomastica (“words of a language that are derived from given names, last names, ethnonyms, and toponyms”), from de- + onomastica.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Deonym
- DeonymTranslations
Cite this entry
deonym. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deonym
“deonym.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deonym. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deonym,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deonym.
Source: deonym on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.