Word for Wednesday: August

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Our Word for Wednesday theme for August is eponymous words. 

An eponymous word is a word that is named after a person or fictional character. These people or characters are known as eponyms and examples include the Earl of Sandwich (sandwiches), the Duke of Wellington (wellington boots), and Don Quixote (quixotic). 

Eponym comes from the Greek epi- meaning ‘upon’ or ‘called after’ and the Aeolic dialect -onyma meaning ‘name’. ‘Onyma’ comes from the PIE root ‘no-men’ meaning ‘name’.

Did you know that August is an eponymous word? What better choice to kick off this month’s theme than with the name of the month itself? 

August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. In the Northern Hemisphere, August is considered the last summer month. 

The month is named after the first Roman emperor Augustus Caesar. The month before it – July – is named after the general Julius Caesar. Before their names were changed, these months were called 'Quintilis’ and ‘Sextillia’. Click here to learn more about where the rest of the months get their names from. 


04 Aug 2021
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