An eponym is someone or something whose name is or is thought to be the source of something's name (such as a city, country, era, or product); alternately it can be used to refer to the name of something that is based on or derived from someone or something else's name. Albert Einstein is the eponym of the element einsteinium; conversely, einsteinium is an eponym of Albert Einstein. There are many different types of eponyms, especially in scientific fields. Theories, laws, equations, proofs, and elements often have their eponyms in the people that first discovered or proved them. Proprietary eponyms are another matter entirely. These are general words that are, or were at one time, proprietary brand names or service marks. Kleenex, for example, is a brand of facial tissues, yet the word is used today to refer to facial tissues of any brand. Xerox is a brand of photocopy machine; that word, too, has been since adopted to refer to any brand of photocopy machine and, moreover, also employed as a verb to describe the act of photocopying. As this illustrates, although brand names are proper adjectives (as in, "Kleenex facial tissues"), when such terms are adopted for general use they tend to become nouns and often also verbs. Some proprietary eponyms are given below. Where two spellings are given, the first spelling is the version in common use, while the second, parenthesized spelling refers to the original product name or service mark. Active Trademarks Often Used Generically Alka Seltzer

AstroTurf

Band Aid

Beer Nuts

Benzedrine

Boogie Board

Breathalyzer

Brillo Pad

BVDs

Chapstick (Chap Stick)

Cheerios

Claymation

Coke (Coca Cola)

Cola (Coca Cola)

Cool-Aid (Kool-Aid)

Cuisinart

Demerol

Ditto Machine

Dixie Cups

Dumpster

Erector Set

Fiberglass (Fiberglas)

Fig Newtons

Freon

Frisbee

Green Stamp

Hacky Sack

Hi-lighter (Hi-Liter)

Hoover

Hula-Hoop

Jacuzzi

Jeep

Jello (Jell-O)

Jockey Shorts

Kitty Litter

Kleenex

Laundromat

Levi's

Life Savers

Mace

Magic Marker

Microchip

Novocain

Oreo

Palm Pilot

Parcheesi (replacing the generic word "Pachisi")

Ping Pong (replacing the generic term "Table Tennis")

Play-Doh

Plexiglas

Polaroid

Pop Tart

Popsicle

Post-It Note

Q-Tip

Rollerblade

Roller Derby

Scotch Tape

Scrabble

Sellotape

Sheetrock

Skivvies

Styrofoam

Super Glue

Teflon

Teleprompter (TelePrompTer)

Teletype

Teva

Thermos

TV Dinner

Tylenol

UNIX

Valium

Vaseline

Velcro

Walkman

Welcome Wagon

White Out (Wite-Out)

Wiffle Ball

Windbreaker

X-Acto Knife

Xerox Defunct Trademarks Used Generically Aspirin

Brassiere

Cellophane

Celluloid

Corselet (Corselette)

Escalator

Granola

Gunk

Heroin

Jungle Gym (Junglegym)

Kerosene

Linoleum

Mimeograph

Pogo Stick (Pogo)

Saran Wrap

Shredded Wheat

Tabloid

Yo-yo

Zipper Of Special Note Nylon is often thought of to be a trademark, but in fact it never was.

is often thought of to be a trademark, but in fact it never was. Special mention must be made of Spam , a product and trademark of Hormel Foods Corp. Rather than broadening by common use to refer to all brands of canned smoked ham and pork instead of just the original brand, the term spam took on a completely different meaning: unsolicited commercial email or electronic postings, usually sent indiscriminately to vast numbers of recipients.