What's the difference between namesake and patronymic?

Namesake


Definition:

  • (n.) One that has the same name as another; especially, one called after, or named out of regard to, another.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) As the Independent prepares to bring out its new daily, i, what lessons could it take from its namesake in Portugal ?
  • (2) Photograph: Chloe Dewe Mathews His officer namesake later recorded the proceedings in his memoirs: "There are hooks on the post; we always do things thoroughly in the Rifles.
  • (3) Some had tears in their eyes as they listened to Francis's call for them not to be "part-time Christians" and to build up their church like his namesake, St Francis of Assisi, was called to do.
  • (4) One reader chose Zoë Heller's The Believers, about the dysfunctional Litvinoff family, another plumped for Sue Miller's While I Was Gone, in which a woman is forced to confront the murder of her best friend 30 years ago, a third pointed readers towards Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, about an Indian boy growing up in America.
  • (5) The current president, Benigno Aquino , is the only son and namesake of the late strongman’s political nemesis, whose assassination in 1983 led to the popular uprising three years later.
  • (6) Montgomery was nicknamed Rommel by some staff, after the German general in north Africa who fought against his British military namesake, on the grounds that "at least (Field Marshal) Montgomery was on our side".
  • (7) Asked if she has four fingers, like her namesake, a poker-faced colleague replied: "We don't know.
  • (8) "Back in the 1960s I broke down in the Mersey Tunnel and was towed out by Everton's ginger haired genius and his namesake dad," writes Jim Lynch, who probably shouldn't be described as a damsel.
  • (9) With the Australian strategist Lynton Crosby heading the Conservative party's election campaign, it is hardly surprising that Michael Howard has sought inspiration from his conservative namesake in Australia, John Howard.
  • (10) "I agree that Barry is a fine name for a keeper (presumably he's even more defensive than his namesake Gareth) but surely the coolest-named fellow in the respective teams is "Sunzu"!"
  • (11) Former Arsenal defender Scott Marshall – who worked with Lambert at both Wycombe Wanderers and Norwich – has been asked to prepare the team for Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Leicester along with his namesake Andy but it remains to be seen whether either will be considered for the role on a permanent basis.
  • (12) The dig director, Richard Buckley, said he would eat his hat if they found his namesake.
  • (13) And just like his namesake, this "Burmese Bin Laden" made a brazen call to arms: "Once we [have] won this battle, we will move on to other Muslim targets."
  • (14) Today's phone-in topics are annoying namesakes (a "Phil Collins" in Somerset is particularly furious), and between songs Lloyd tells me that the best song he's played so far today is Rebel Rebel, and the worst is the new Killers track.
  • (15) Gardner says he and his wife have no ill-feeling towards his namesake – they hold NatWest solely responsible for an “intolerable” situation that has caused them a huge amount of stress and inconvenience, as well as “significant financial loss”.
  • (16) In the 19th century, their namesake sent out his ragamuffin kids to pick the pockets of London gentlemen.
  • (17) The fast-talking 61-year-old shakes hands with one wearing a tiara and sash reading “Miss Columbus”, from a beauty pageant to celebrate its namesake’s arrival in North America.
  • (18) The authors' data on Salish Indian spirit sickness describes the contemporary condition as anomic depression, which is significantly different from its traditional namesake.
  • (19) Nowadays, while a modern Benin City has risen on the same plain, the ruins of its former, grander namesake are not mentioned in any tourist guidebook to the area.
  • (20) Two years later, renovations on Ralph Wilson Stadium have been completed, and its namesake, the franchise’s longtime owner, has passed away.

Patronymic


Definition:

  • (a.) Derived from ancestors; as, a patronymic denomination.
  • (n.) A modification of the father's name borne by the son; a name derived from that of a parent or ancestor; as, Pelides, the son of Peleus; Johnson, the son of John; Macdonald, the son of Donald; Paulowitz, the son of Paul; also, the surname of a family; the family name.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Tom Jaine writes: Robert Carrier was born Robert Carrier MacMahon, but dropped the patronymic when in France after the war: "It sounds good in French and it looks well visually," he remarked.
  • (2) Several explanations are offered for this, including polyphyletism of surnames and the presence of Scandinavian patronyms in this population.
  • (3) The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of Offred – not her real name, but the patronymic she has been given by the new regime in an oppressive parallel America of the future – and her role as a Handmaid.

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