Amelia
WordNet
noun
(1) Congenital absence of an arm or leg
WiktionaryText
Etymology
A variant of Amalia, derived from compound names beginning with *amal, "vigor, bravery". The name and its variants have been confused with the Latin name Aemilia, Emilia, Emily.
Quotations
- 1776 Adam Fitz-Adam, The World of Adam Fitz-Adam, Edinburgh, Apollo Press 1776: Numb. 187. Thursday, July 29, 1756:
- By their dresses, their names, and the airs of quality they give themselves, I am rendered ridiculous among all my acquaintance. My wife, who is a very plain good woman, and whose name is Amey, has been new-christened, and is called Amelia; and my little daughter, a child of a year old, is no longer Polly, but Maria.
- 1982 Carol Fenner, Saving Amelia Earhart,The Third Coast: Contemporary Michigan Fiction, ISBN 0814316956 page 66:
- We must have heard it first on the battery radio, the news about Amelia Earhart, lost over the ocean. - - - Air Heart, I saw it spelled, Amelia ... a name like a soft, bold bird.