The word galvanize is derived from a person’s name: Luigi Galvani, a physician and physicist of Bologna. It’s an example of an eponym (a word that derives from the name of a person).
Galvani observed that the legs of a frog would twitch when brought into contact with certain metals. The twitching was the result of a kind of animal electricity—hence galvanize, “to stimulate into sudden action”.
Other eponyms include:
- cardigan from James Thomas Brudenell, seventh Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868);
- Hoover (i.e., a vacuum cleaner) from W.H. Hoover (1849-1932);
- mackintosh from Charles M. Macintosh (1766-1843);
- sandwich from John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich; and
- silhouette from Étienne de Silhouette (1709-67).
Source: The Penguin Wordmaster Dictionary, Martin Manser and Nigel Turton, eds., 1987.