Added 10 October 2026
namesake
/ˈneɪmseɪk/ noun
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about namesake at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
An entity that lends its name to another entity.
The statesman Winston Churchill has a namesake, the American novelist Winston Churchill.
-
A person with the same name as another.
The statesman Winston Churchill has a namesake, the American novelist Winston Churchill.
-
One who is named after another, often a child named after the parent or an ancestor.
Bill Sr's namesake, Bill Jr, is 30 years younger.
verb
Origin
Mid-17th century. Equivalent to name + sake. From the phrase “for (one's) name's sake”, first found in Bible translations as a rendering of a Calque of Hebrew לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ (l'má'an sh'mó) idiom meaning “to protect one's reputation” or possibly “vouched for by one's reputation”. A familiar example is in Psalm 23:3.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)