Ernest
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from ernust "vigor, strife", only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.
Proper noun
- ; popular in the 19th century.
Quotations
- 1895 Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest:
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- GWENDOLEN. --, and my ideal has always been to love someone in the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.
- 1980 P.D.James: Innocent Blood:
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- "What's his name, your boyfriend?"
- "Ernest. Ernest Hemingway."
- The name was received in disparaging silence. Marlene said:
- "You wouldn't get me going out with a feller called Ernest. My granddad was Ernest."
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Proper noun
- , equivalent to English Ernest.