Arthur
WordNet
noun
(1) A legendary king of the Britons (possibly based on a historical figure in the 6th century but the story has been retold too many times to be sure); said to have led the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot
(2) Elected vice president and became 21st President of the United States when Garfield was assassinated (1830-1886)
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From the name of the legendary king, probably related to old artos, "bear".
- Some suggestions for etymology are " and = hero, or man of strength," and and . Latin origin has also been suggested.
Proper noun
- .
Usage notes
In continuous use as a given name since early Middle Ages; popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Quotations
- 1380s-1390s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
- In tholde dayes of the king Arthour, / Of which that Britons speken greet honour, / All was this land fulfild of fayerye.: Act IV, Scene II:
- Young Arthur is alive: this hand of mine / Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand, / Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.
- 1951 Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, Viking Press, page 96:
- "Is his name Arthur?" / "Arthur James." / "It's quite an old-fashioned name." / "We're an old-fashioned family. His mother was fond of Tennyson."
Proper noun
- borrowed from English.
----
Proper noun
- used in France since the Middle Ages.
----
Proper noun
- borrowed from English in the 18th century.
----
Proper noun
- borrowed from English in the 19th century.