There are many words in the English dictionary today that was once just someone’s names.

Boycott
Meaning: to avoid dealing with or to prevent dealing with as a protest
Origin: Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott who was boycotted by his own tenants in the late 19th century.

Quisling
Meaning: Traitor, particularly a person who betrays his/her own country
Origin: Vidkun Quisling(1887- 1945), a Norwegian army officer who became a fascist and collaborated with the Nazis during WWII.

Bowdlerize
Meaning: to expurgate a literary text in a prudish manner
Origin: Dr Thomas Bowdler who published his own edition of Shakespeare’s works, editing out words that he felt “cannot..be read aloud to the family.”

Chauvinism
Meaning: zealous nationalism
Origin: Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier who was wounded 17 times fighting for Napoleon and practically worshipped his emperor.

Gerrymander
Meaning: change the boundaries of voting districts to enhance one’s own political influence
Origin: Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts in early 19th century who conspire with his party members to redraw election boundaries.

Guillotine
Meaning: An apparatus used to behead a criminal
Origin: Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin who proposed that France should perform executions by beheading with an apparatus he had seen used elsewhere.

Machiavellian
Meaning: unscrupulous and cunning ways in pursuit of power
Origin: Nicolò Machiavelli who advocated deception and hypocrisy in his masterpiece, the Prince.

Martinet
Meaning: strict military disciplinarian
Origin: French Colonel Jean Martinet who drilled his solders to exacting standards during King Louis XIV’s reign.

Pompadour
Meaning: large and high-swept hairstyle popular during French King Louis XV’s reign
Origin: Marquise de Pompadour, King Louis XV’s mistress, who wore such a hairstyle.

Silhouette
Meaning: two-dimensional outline of an object’s profile
Origin: French finance minister during King Louis XV’s reign, Etienne de Silhouette, who proposed that to economize on resources that people should opt for outlines instead of a full and most costly paintings for protraits.

Spoonerism
Meaning: unintentional transpositions of sounds
Origin: W. A. Spooner (1844-1930), an English clergyman who was notorious for transposing the initial letters of words.

Draconian
Meaning: rule or punishment that is unusually severe
Origin: Draco, a Greek politician who reportedly prescribed the death penalty even for trivial offences.