> Jeep, and Hoover are both (listed as) proper nouns, it mentions the
> company in the case of Hoover, but simply says "four wheel drive
> vehicle" and "US origin" for the Jeep.

Hoover is an eponym, ie it's a product named after a person (William
Hoover), like sandwich, cardigan, wellington, tarmac. Sometimes a
dictionary won't give the whole story, but a derivative source like
Brewers Phrase & Fable will

I understood that "jeep" came from GP - general purpose (vehicle)

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