Eponymous

An eponym is the name of a person or thing (real or fictional) after which something else is named. Therefore, an eponymous work is named after one of the characters within (such as Tess of the D'Urbervilles or Julius Caesar).



Definition of the Term
ep·o·nym   [ep-uh-nim] noun
 * a person, real or imaginary, from whom something, as a tribe, nation, or place, takes or is said to take its name: Brut, the supposed grandson of Aeneas, is the eponym of the Britons.
 * a word based on or derived from a person's name.
 * any ancient official whose name was used to designate his year of office.

Examples of the Term

 * The play Julius Caesar shares the name of the character Julius Caesar, murdered in the third act.
 * Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles is named after the protagonist of the novel.