The extension, importance and function of eponymous terms in forensic medicine

Forensic medicine is a multidisciplinary medical field that cooperates with a number of complementary medical disciplines and receives knowledge from many other non-medical disciplines. Cooperation with forensic toxicologists and forensic radiologists is routine in forensic practice, as well as with traffic engineers, forensic ballistics, forensic biomechanics, anthropologists, geneticists, and forensic entomologists is well established in expert practice and scientific research. Our work focuses on the connection of forensic medicine with linguistics. The essence of the article is the evaluation of the function, importance and use of eponymic terms in the field of forensic medicine. Total of 28 eponymous terms were searched and analysed in four Czech written textbooks of forensic medicine from different time periods (published in years 1937, 1976, 1999 and 2015/2016). The occurrence and extension of eponymous terms in field of forensic medicine is presented. The origin, the authorship, advantages or disadvantages of eponymous terms are discussed. Function of these terms in professional communication, in communication with police, in court, and with lay people is evaluated.