Definition:
The process of using specific brand names of products as names for the products in general. See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "kind"Examples and Observations:
- "The words kleenex and xerox illustrate another technique for creating new words . . .. Kleenex, a brand name for facial tissue, has come to denote facial tissue in general. Xerox is the name of the corporation that produces a well-known photocopying machine, and much to the dismay of the company, the term xerox has lost its specific brand-name connotation and has come to be used to describe the process of photocopying in general."
(A. Akmajian, R. Demers, A. Farmer, and R. Harnish, Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT Press, 2001) - "A surprising number of words have developed contentious generic meanings: they include aspirin, band-aid, escalator, filofax, frisbee, thermos, tippex, and xerox. And the problem facing the lexicographer [dictionary-maker] is how to handle them. If it is everyday usage to say such things as I have a new hoover: it's an Electrolux, then the dictionary, which records everyday usage, should include the generic sense. The principle has been tested several times in the courts and the right of the dictionary-makers to include such usages is repeatedly upheld. But the decision still has to be made: when does a proprietary name develop a sufficient general usage to be safely called generic?"
(David Crystal, Words, Words, Words. Oxford Univ. Press, 2006) - "Some brand names have slipped the leash, run wild, and joined the pack of the general vocabulary. Here are some of them:
- elevator and escalator: Both originally trademarks of the Otis Elevator Company.
- loafer: For a moccasin-like shoe.
- cellophane: For a transparent wrap made of cellulose.
