List of verbs derived from personal names
This is a list of verbs derived from the names of real people.
Common
- Boycott
- To abstain from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organisation as an expression of protest or as a means of coercion.
- From: Charles Boycott
- Burke
- To suffocate.
- From: William Burke
- Guillotine
- To execute somebody by decapitation with a guillotine.
- From: Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
- Lynch
- To execute without a proper legal trial.
- From: William Lynch
- Hoover
- To vacuum the floor.
- From: The Hoover Company
- Google
- To search Internet for information using a search engine (presumably google.com).
- From: Google Inc.
Less common
- Bogart
- To selfishly keep all of something for oneself.
- From: Humphrey Bogart who is commonly seen with cigarettes, but rarely seen smoking.
- Bork
- To destroy a judicial nominee through a concerted attack on his character, background and philosophy.
- From: Robert Bork
- Bobbit
- To remove a man's penis.
- From: Lorena Bobbit
- Garn
- To vomit.
- From: Jake Garn