Word
william
Phoneticswilliam
/ˈwɪɫjəm/
Definitions
01male name
n. a common name for a man or boy.
n. A masculine given name of Germanic origin, often shortened to Will, Bill, or Billy.
“My brother's name is William, but everyone calls him Will.”
“William the Conqueror was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087.”
02surname
n. a family name or last name.
n. A surname derived from the given name William.
“The author of the book is a woman named Sarah William.”
“The legal documents were signed by a Mr. William, though the rest of his family used the more common plural form, Williams.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic wiljô (“will”) + helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European roots welh₁- (“to choose, wish, want”) and *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”) respectively. Cognate with Dutch Willem, German Wilhelm, etc.; cognate borrowings outside of Germanic include Guillaume and Guillermo.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/william