English Reference

Word

williams

Phoneticswilliams

/ˈwɪɫjəmz/

Definitions

01a surname

A1

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

A2

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.

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Common
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference