The study proceeds from the study of proper names as direct etymological sources in word-formation. The authors inquire into the way these onomastic lexical units interrelate with the general vocabulary of a language from a lexicographic point of view. Their central interest is in the quantitative proportion and functional value of proper names in the micro- and macro-structural organization of general French-language dictionaries. They also compile sub-groups of words originating from proper nouns (eponyms, derivatives, complex lexical units, etc.) and integrated into the nomenclatures, proceeding from there to analyze their principal predicative roles in dictionary headings.