Word
williams
Phoneticswilliams
/ˈwɪɫjəmz/
Definitions
01a surname
n. a very common last name in English-speaking countries, especially in Wales.
n. a common patronymic surname of Welsh origin, meaning 'son of William'.
“Serena Williams is one of the most famous tennis players in history.”
“The registrar noted that Williams remains one of the most frequently occurring surnames in the regional census data.”
02plural of William
n. more than one person named William.
n. the plural form of the masculine proper noun William, used to refer to multiple individuals sharing the name.
“There are three Williams in my office, so we use their last names to tell them apart.”
“The teacher found it difficult to manage a classroom containing four Williams, eventually resorting to using their middle initials for clarity.”
Etymology
Variant of William with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s.
From William + -s (plural suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/williams