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namesake

namesake

26 5.6
A person or thing that has the same name as someone else
  • noun
  • /ˈneɪmˌseɪk/
: tocayo
  • Now let us remember the namesakes of this university, the Stanfords.
  • a biblical namesake
  • a namesake saint

Royal Citizen of Science and namesake of an asteroid.

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Examples

  • His son is named after him, so they share the same name; he is his father's namesake.

  • Since 1995, his organization has been headed by his son and namesake, a former pediatric surgeon.

    Academic text (2008)
  • By the time I was four, I knew a great deal about my namesake.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Take comfort from my namesake, our beloved Lady, and use her life as an example to you.

  • Your Uncle Gabriel, your namesake, died defending that flag.

  • When we pulled into The Carillon, I asked him if he'd ever seen the namesake tower.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • For example, my namesake, Agnes Martin, used to read murder mysteries and work in her garden for most of the day when she wasn't painting, - of course.

  • Bonifcio is the (fictional) grandson and namesake of a famous (real) Filipino freedom fighter.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Oh, I've got a message for you from a namesake of yours, Sandy Rendell, he's in Cairo just now.

  • The park is a beautiful tribute to its namesake, who dedicated his life to environmental conservation.

Surface Forms

namesake singular
namesakes plural

Morphology

namesake = name + sake (semi-transparent) = name + sake

The components 'name' and 'sake' are recognisable, but 'sake' is somewhat archaic and the precise idiomatic sense 'a person having the same name' is not fully predictable for average learners.

Etymology

Namesake comes from the parts name and sake, where sake means 'for the sake of' or 'because of'. So a namesake is someone or something that has the same name or is 'named after' another person.