namesake
Americannoun
-
a person or thing named after another or whose name is given to another person or thing.
Little Dora lay asleep in the arms of her namesake, great-aunt Dora.
The memory of Robert and Signe McMichael is honored in their namesake, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
-
a person or thing having the same name as another.
The cities of Hyderabad, Pakistan, and Hyderabad, India, are namesakes.
noun
-
a person or thing named after another
-
a person or thing with the same name as another
Etymology
Origin of namesake
First recorded in 1640–50; alteration of name's ( name + 's 1 ) sake 1
Explanation
If your parents named you after your Great Uncle Abner, then you are his namesake. The two of you share a very nice name. Use the noun namesake to describe the recipient of a handed-down name, like Bob Jr., or Ricky Smith III. Less often, the word also means anyone who shares a name with someone else, so you could refer to all the Emmas in your school as namesakes. The first recorded use of the word namesake was in the mid-1600s, and it probably began as the phrase "for the name's sake," before being condensed into a single word.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Namesake Fin came off the bench twice but didn’t have long enough to impose himself.
From BBC • Jul. 15, 2024
Davlyn Mosley is the daughter of renowned dermatologist Dr. Lynn McKinley-Grant — and Mosley put the lessons of her childhood into Namesake.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2022
In fact, given our state name, we Washingtonians might well be pushed to the head of the Namesake Reconsideration Line.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 11, 2020
Namesake Arni Nashbar started a bicycle parts mail order business from his Ohio home in the mid-1970s, and it’s now one of the biggest Internet retailers in its market.
From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2020
Nothing is 'unbearable,' Namesake, except the thought of our own folly or sin.
From When Grandmamma Was New The Story of a Virginia Childhood by Harland, Marion
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
