Definition | Meaning
- A place name which is pronounced or spelled very differently in its language of origination.
Example | Illustation
- The Italian city of Firenze is typically referred to in English as Florence.
exclamatory sentence
Definition | Meaning
- Any brand name consisting of a complete exclamation designed to express an emotional reaction to the product and invariably marked with an exclamation point.
Example | Illustration
- Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific! shampoo
- I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! margarine
Etymology | Origin
euphony
Definition | Meaning
- A smooth, mellifluous sound effect, irrespective of meaning.
Example | Illustration
- to most English speakers, the name Charmin is pleasant to the ear, regardless of its meaning
Etymology | Origin
- French euphonie < Late Latin euphonia < Greek euphonia < euphonos ‘sweet-voiced’ < eu- ‘good, well’ + phone ‘sound’
Compare | See
- dissonance
euphemism
Definition | Meaning
- Any inoffensive substitute for a term considered offensive or inappropriate.
Example | Illustration
- Cottonelle UltraSoft Double Roll bathroom tissue is a lengthy euphemism for toilet paper
Etymology | Origin
- Greek eu ‘good’ + pheme ‘speech’
euonym
Definition | Meaning
- Any brand name particularly well-suited to its positioning and/or purpose.
Example | Illustration
Etymology | Origin
ethos
Definition | Meaning
- The distinctive beliefs of a company, typically instilled, consciously or unconsciously, by its founders.
Example | Illustration
Etymology | Origin
eponym
Definition | Meaning
- Any brand name derived from a personal name, even if that person is fictitious, mysterious, or legendary.
Example | Illustration
- Aunt Jemima
- Betty Crocker
- Michael Jordan
- Barbie
Etymology | Origin
- French éponyme < Greek eponumos ‘named after’ < epi- ‘after’ + onuma ‘name’
Compare | See
- matronym
- patronym
epicene
Definition | Meaning
- A noun whose single form can designate either a male or a female.
Example | Illustration
- ‘author’
- ‘poet’
Etymology | Origin
engram
Definition | Meaning
- The neural change hypothesized to account for the memorability of a name in the mind of the hearer.
Example | Illustration
- a particularly memorable name such as Monster may trigger specific engrams in your mind
Etymology | Origin
Compare | See
- psycholinguistics
doublet
Definition | Meaning
- A pair of words which share a common origin, but which have distinct shades of meaning.
Example | Illustation
- The English words vibrate and vibrant are both derived from the Latin word vibrare ‘to vibrate, to shake’, but vibrate means ‘to shake, to quiver’ and vibrant means ‘vigorous, energetic, radiant’.