Humphrey

English

Etymology

Name of a 9th-century French saint, brought to England by Normans; Proto-Germanic *unnaną (to grant, bestow) + *friþuz (peace). In Ireland it has been used to Anglicize Irish Amhlaoibh (= Olaf). [1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhʌmfɹi/

Proper noun

Humphrey

  1. A male given name.
    • 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, []”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals):
      : Act I, Scene I:
      I never saw but Humphrey, Duke of Gloster, / Did bear him like a noble gentleman.
    • 1988 Howard Engel: A Victim Must Be Found: page 70:
      "Hump?" I asked. "Humphrey, really. But everybody callls him Hump. I know a lot of people who avoid calling him by his first name. For a long time people didn't think it was quite proper. But nowadays nobody seems to mind. What's happening to the power of words, Benny? Time was I used to blush at the words scrawled on the fences, and now I hear them - everywhere. How are writers going to write books if language is going bland on them?"
  2. A patronymic surname.

Derived terms

References

  1. Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges : A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press 1988.

Anagrams

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