Words related to the Bible

• Adam's apple : from the biblical character Adam.According to the Bible, Adam was thefirst man, the husband of Eve, and later the father of Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden until they ate a forbidden fruit, traditionally held to be an apple. As a punishment they were expelled from Eden. [Meaning : a projection of the thyroid cartilage at the front of the neckthat is more prominent in men than in women.]
• the bible : from the holy bible ; the religious book of the Catholics [Meaning : a book regarded as authoritative] 
• the gospel truth : from the gospel which are the teachings of Jesus and the apostles [Meaning : an unquestionable truth] 
• the Judas : from Judas Iscariot. the disciple who betrayed Jesus. [Meaning : a person treacherous enough to betray a friend]
• a Daniel :  from the old testament : a youth who was taken into the household ofNebuchadnezzar, received guidance and apocalyptic visionsfrom God, and was given divine protection when thrown into the lions' den [Meaning : a wise upright person]

Words related to the works of Shakespeare

• Hamletian dilemma : The phrase is derived form Williams Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. When Hamlet, the prince of Dutch learns that his father was murdered by his uncle, he is in a dilemma as to whether he should avenge his father’s death or rule the kingdom of Dutch. The famous line ‘To be, or not to be’ is also uttered by Hamlet when faced with this dilemma. [Meaning : a difficult decision]
• a pound of flesh : from Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice' – what Shylock demands as his rightful due under a bargain struck – the word is used to mean what one demands as rightful due as per a bargain.

Words derived from characters in popular literature

• Quixotic : Don Quixote, hero of a romance by Miguel de Cervantes [Meaning :  Capricious, impulsive]
• Panglossian : After Pangloss, an optimist in Candide, a satire by Voltaire. [Meaning : Blindly or naively optimistic]
• Uncle tom :  After Uncle Tom, a character in Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe [Meaning :  to be excessively obedient or servile]
• Sheherazade : (the legendary Persian queen and gifted storyteller of The One Thousand and One Nights – the word is used to mean a person gifted with the art of storytelling). [meaning : a good story teller]
• Quasimodo : (the main character in Victor Hugo's novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Quasimodo is a deformed and ugly hunchback under whose grotesque exterior lies a heart of gold – the word is used to mean a person who, though ugly to look at, is of good and courageous character).
• Walter Mitty : (the fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The secret life of Walter Mitty", a henpecked husband who copes with the frustrations of his dull life by imagining he is a fearless airplane pilot, a brilliant doctor, and other dashing figures – the term is used to mean one who is prone to daydream, of being in fantastic situations). 

Literature's contribution to the English Language

• a Daniel : A Daniel is someone who makes a wise judgment that has previously been difficult to solve. It refers to the biblical character Daniel who was attributed with fine powers of judgment
• malapropism : from the character Mrs. Malaprop from Sheridan’s play-The Rivals (meaning : an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.)
• Jekyl and Hyde :  The phrase Jekyll and Hyde is used to describe a  person who has two separate personalities – one good  and the other evil. The expression derives from the name of the main characters in the novel “The strange  case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson
• Aladin's cave : Aladin is the poor son of a Chinese tailor and is used by a Moorish magician to fetch a magical lamp from an underground cave. When Aladin enters the cave he finds it filled with several chests of treasure and riches.Hence Aladin’s cave refers to a place of great riches or a place where valuable things are found
• To raise a Cain : To raise Cain means to create an uproar or to cause trouble. Cain was the son of Adam and Eve and the brother of Abel. He became jealous of Abel because only Abel’s offering to God was accepted. So he slew his brother Abel. Hence Eve who had raised Cain raised trouble in the form of Cain.