10WordsQStudy guides › Level 7 · Roots & Origins
Words named after people and places
💡 The idea
Some everyday words began as names: of an inventor, a town, or a figure from old myths. Words like these are called eponyms. Each has a story worth knowing.
⚡ Handy ones
| Word | Named after |
|---|---|
| sandwich | the Earl of Sandwich, who ate meat between bread |
| braille | Louis Braille, a blind French teenager who invented it |
| saxophone | Adolphe Sax, its Belgian inventor |
| volt | Alessandro Volta, maker of the first battery |
| denim | Nîmes, a French town (“de Nîmes”) |
| jeans | Genoa, an Italian port city |
| marathon | Marathon, a town in Greece, from the legend of a messenger’s run to Athens |
| teddy bear | President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt |
| cereal | Ceres, Roman goddess of grain |
| January | Janus, Roman god of doorways |
| Thursday | Thor, Norse god of thunder |
⚠️ Watch out
- Look for a hidden name in the word: Sax in saxophone, Volta in volt.
- Days and months often come from gods: Thursday (Thor), January (Janus).
🎯 Try these
- Where does “diesel” come from?
- Where does “volcano” come from?
Answers: 1) Rudolf Diesel, the German engineer 2) Vulcan, the Roman god of fire
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