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Is there a specific word for the short story whose title is also the title of a compendium of short stories containing that one? The closest I can come up with is eponym but that doesn't feel quite right.

On the one hand, the compendium is named after the short story, so that sounds like it fits the definition of eponym:

of, relating to, or being the person or thing for whom or which something is named

But this question seems unanswered/debatable as to whether or not eponymous can apply to something other than a person.

Is there a word other than eponymous that better fills the blank below?

In the ____ short story of Wallace's "Oblivion", we meet Randall, who...

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The wikipedia entry on Wallace's Oblivian uses title here -

In the same essay, Tracey further develops his thoughts on the title story, "Oblivion," which raises questions about what reality is, and what is real.

Using title story rather than title short story feels more natural.

This is certainly common usage in with respect to music. For example, we would all say "Help! is the title track of the Beatles' album Help!".

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  • Oh wow, the answer was on the wikipedia page I had been looking at. Sheesh... and thanks!
    – dwanderson
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 21:42

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