eponymous

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of eponymous:
adj. "giving one's name to a tribe, place, etc: Romulus, the eponymous founder of Rome." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/1/08 – Happy New Year! Today's NYT online style mag, TMagazine, had this untitled article by Alex Hawgood.

“...For her new line, Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, sold at the eponymous downtown boutique and other hip spots, the actress drew upon her “completely awkward and dorky” junior-high years. “I wanted this collection to embody that spirit of being young,” she says. This meant cropped blazers, Liberty-print grunge dresses, even a motorcycle cap made from recycled cassette tapes. “My friend told me that the whole collection was a pretty accurate self-portrait,” she says. “I wasn’t sure if he meant it as an insult or a compliment...”

My two cents:
This article is about a new line of clothing by a “famous” actress who barely blips on my radar, but then I’m an unhip, old fart now and that’s ok by me. I don’t know why I even gave this article my time, but that’s not a mystery to be solved here. Anyway, I was kind of surfing/scanning through this fluffy copy and actually found something redeeming: a wonderful word that continues to elude my lexicon. Maybe I’ll slip it into a conversation this year. About - or even with - an actress. Or not.