A.W.A.D. - Eponyms

Have you ever read a novel so well-written that the characters came alive? This week's words are about those fictional men and women who have walked off the pages of their books and entered the dictionary. Perhaps it's a testament to the genius of the authors that their imaginary creations are now part of the living language. Let's meet five of these words, also known as eponyms, this week.

lilliputian
(lil-i-PYOO-shuhn) adjective
Very small.
noun
A very small person.

[After Lilliput, a fictional island nation in Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. Everything was diminutive in Lilliput -- its inhabitants were six inches in height.]

pantagruelian
(pan-tuh-groo-EL-ee-uhn) adjective
1. Enormous
2. Displaying extravagant and coarse humor
[After Pantagruel, a giant king with an enormous appetite, depicted in a series of novels by François Rabelais (c. 1490-1553).]

Simon Legree
(SY-muhn li-GREE) noun
A harsh taskmaster

[After Simon Legree, a brutal slave dealer in the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896).]

gargantuan
(gar-GAN-choo-uhn) adjective
Gigantic

[After Gargantua, a voracious giant, the father of Pantagruel, in a series of novels by François Rabelais (c. 1490-1553).]

babbitt
(BAB-it) noun
A self-satisfied narrow-minded person who conforms to conventional ideals of business and material success.

[After the main character in Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel Babbitt.]

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