Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
"WILLIAM" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "a will", "a desire", "a helmet", "a protection". |
Date "WILLIAM" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | William (2 syl.; in Jerusalem Delivered), Archbishop of Orange. An ecclesiastical warrior, who besought Pope Urban on his knees that he might be sent in the crusade. He took 400 armed men in his train from his own diocese. William, youngest son of William Rufus. He wore a casque of gold, and was the leader of a large army of British bow-men and Irish volunteers in the crusading army. (Tasso Jerusalem Delivered, bk. iii.) English history teaches that William Rufus was never married. (See Orlando Furioso.) Belted Will. William, Lord Howard, warden of the Western Marches. (1563-1640.) "His Bilboa blade, by Marchmen felt, Hung in a broad and studded belt; Hence, in rude phrase, the borderers still Called noble Howard `Belted Will.' " Sir Walter Scott: Lay of the Last Minstrel, v. 16. St. William of Aquitaine was one of the soldiers of Charlemagne, and helped to chase the Saracens from Languedoc. In 808 he renounced the world, and died 812. He is usually represented as a mailed soldier. St. William of Mallavalle or Maleval. A French nobleman of very abandoned life; but, being converted, he went as pilgrim to Jerusalem, and on his return retired to the desert of Malavalle. He is depicted in a Benedictine's habit, with armour lying beside him. (Died 1157.) St. William of Montpelier is represented with a lily growing from his mouth, with the words Ave Maria in gold letters on it. St. William of Monte Virgine is drawn with a wolf by his side. (Died 1142.) St. William of Norwich was the celebrated child said to have been crucified by the Jews in 1137 He is represented as a child crowned with thorns or crucified, or holding a hammer and nails in his hands, or wounded in his side with a knife. (See Polyolbion, song xxiv.) In Percy's Reliques (bk. i. 3) there is a tale of a lad named Hew, son of Lady Helen, of Merryland town (Milan), who was allured by a Jew's daughter with an apple. She stuck him with a penknife, rolled him in lead, and cast him into a well. Lady Helen went in search of her boy, and the child's ghost cried out from the bottom of the well- "The lead is wondrous heavy, mither, The well is wondrous deip; A keen penknife sticks in my heirt, mither; A word I dounae speik." (See Hugh). St. William of Roeschild is represented with a torch flaming on his grave. (Died 1203.) St. William of York is depicted in pontificals, and bearing his archiepiscopal cross. (Died 1154.) William II. The body of this king was picked up by Purkess, a charcoal-burner of Minestead, and conveyed in a cart to Winchester. The name of Purkess is still to be seen in the same village. "A Minestead churl, whose wonted trade Was burning charcoal in the glade, Outstretched amid the gorse The monarch found; and in his wain He raised, and to St. Swithin's fane Conveyed the bleeding corse." W.S. Rose. William III. It was not known till the discovery of the correspondence of Cardonnel, secretary of Marlborough, by the Historical MS. Commission in 1869, that our Dutch king was a great eater. Cardonnel, writing from The Hague, October, 1701, to Under-Secretary Ellis, says- "It is a pity his majesty will not be more temperate in his diet. Should I eat so much, and of the same kinds, I dare say I should scare have survived it so long, and yet I reckon myself none of the weakest constitutions." William of Cloudeslie (2 syl.). A noted outlaw and famous archer of the "north countrie." (See Clym of the Clough.) William of Newburgh (Gulielmus Neubrigensis), monk of Newburgh in Yorkshire, surnamed Little, and sometimes called Gulielmus Parvus, wrote a history in five books, from the Conquest to 1197, edited by Thomas Hearne, in three volumes, octavo, Oxford, 1719. The Latin is good, and the work ranks with that of Malmesbury. William of Newburgh is the first writer who rejects Geoffrey of Monmouth's Trojan descent of the old Britons, which he calls a "figment made more absurd by Geoffrey's impudent and impertinent lies." He is, however, quite as fabulous an historian as the "impudent" Geoffrey. (1136-1208.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "William."
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm an educated man, but I can't speak intelligently about the travel habits of William Santiago. (A Few Good Men; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin) Well William, we've been across the entire country and did everything to you except get you laid. (Almost Famous; writing credit: Cameron Crowe) William just turned down Anna Scott. (Notting Hill; writing credit: Richard Curtis) I'll see you in hell, William Munny! (Unforgiven; writing credit: Walon Green; Roy N. Sickner) You know William, from this light, you somewhat resemble David Duchovny. (Can't Hardly Wait; writing credit: Deborah Kaplan; Harry Elfont) | |
Lyrics | It's William Bonnie, stealin mamis (Can't Deny It; performing artist: Fabolous) He says his name's William but I'm sure (All I Wanna Do; performing artist: Sheryl Crow) It's apropos of nothing he says his name is William ("All I Wanna Do"; performing artist: Sheryl Crow) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Fritz Lang Interviewed by William Friedkin (1974) The Men Who Made the Movies: William A. Wellman (1973) William Conrad (1973) Hjemme hos William (1971) | |
Song Titles | Be Thankful For What You Got (performing artist: William Devaughn) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Group photograph of the president's cancer panel in 1982. (l-r): Dr. Elliott Stonehill, Dr. William Longmire, Armand Hammer, Dr. Harold Amos, Dr. Vincent DeVita. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | Shows interior wide shot of Pathology Department of the Central Cancer Research Lab. Dr. William C. Hueper sits in lab working through microscope. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |
 | DHEW Secretary, F. David Mathews meetw with Dr. Philip S. Brachman, Dr. William H. Foege, and Mr. Jim Bloom. Credit: CDC. |  | Julie Nixon Eisenhower with Dr. David Sencer (Director of CDC) and Dr. William Foege at CDC, January 18, 1972, for Immunization Program's Awards Ceremony for DeKalb County Rubella Vaccine Study. Credit: CDC. |
 | Dr. William R. Graham. Credit: NASA. |  | Camp on the Bulwark between Upper Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound Triangulation party of R. P. Strough. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | William Bowie Chief of geodesy from 1909 till 1936 retirement Bowie Medal of American Geophysical Union established in his honor. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Enroute to Prince William Sound -Mt. St. Elias is high peak in left-center. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Shoreline in Prince William Sound. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | The BELGICA anchored at Mount William. In: "Resultats du Voyage du S. Y. BELGICA en 1897-1898-1899 .... Rapports Scientifiques ... Travaux Hydrographiques et Instructions Nautiques" by G. Lecointe, 1903. P. 110. Plate XI. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Captain William Driver | I name thee Old Glory. |
William Penn | Next to God, thy parents. |
William Shakespeare | The game is up. |
| It was Greek to me. | |
| Words pay no debts. | |
| They laugh that win. | |
| We are in God's hand. | |
| We cannot all be masters. | |
| We have seen better days. | |
William Tecumseh Sherman | War is hell. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | We will do towards Alexander, king of Scots, concerning the return of his sisters and his hostages, and concerning his franchises, and his right, in the same manner as we shall do towards our owher barons of England, unless it ought to be otherwise according to the charters which we hold from William his father, formerly king of Scots; and this shall be according to the judgment of his peers in our court. (reference) |
John Locke | 1690 | We are told by some, that the English monarchy is founded in the Norman conquest, and that our princes have thereby a title to absolute dominion: which if it were true, (as by the history it appears otherwise) and that William had a right to make war on this island; yet his dominion by conquest could reach no farther than to the Saxons and Britons, that were then inhabitants of this country. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Marbury v. Madison | 1803 | At the last term on the affidavits then read and filed with the clerk, a rule was granted in this case, requiring the Secretary of State [note: i.e., James Madison] to show cause why a mandamus should not issue, directing him to deliver to William Marbury his commission as a justice of the peace for the county of Washington, in the district of Columbia. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II of Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | William Larkins let me keep a larger quantity than usual this year. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Among them William Ewart Gladstone, just then dead. |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | McGovern TW, William W, Fitzpatrick JE, et al. Cutaneous manifestations of African trypanosomiasis. (references) | |
This syndrome was first described in 1957 by Dr. William M. Landau and Dr. Frank R. Kleffner, who identified six children with the disorder. (references) | ||
William Owen Jr., M.D. Duke University Medical Center Richard D. Swartz, M.D. University of Michigan Health System The individuals listed here facilitated field testing for this publication. (references) | ||
Business | Thanks to new legislation that facilitates the construction of new pipelines in Ecuador, U.S. based William Brothers and a five-company consortium (including U.S. Companies Occidental and Kerr-McGee), have submitted their offers to build a second major export pipeline. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Angola | In November government authorities threatened William Tonet, an independent journalist and editor, and his informant to reveal their sources for a story that exposed scandal in the Ministry of the Interior; no further government action was taken by year's end. (references) |
Angola | For example, the official daily Jornal de Angola refused to publish the response of William Tonet, editor of the independent weekly Folha 8. In August the Jornal de Angola refused to publish the response of Reginaldo da Silva, a local BBC correspondent, to accusations of bias against the Government. (references) | |
Kenya | The Government refused to reverse its 1994 denial of registration of the Islamic Party of Kenya (IPK) on the grounds that the IPK was a religious-based party, and had been involved in a number of violent confrontations with police in 1992. Following the discovery of "cult" killings in Uganda in 2000, William Ruto, Assistant Minister in the Office of the President, said that the Government would crack down on religious groups that endanger the safety of their adherents; however, there was no reported harassment of religious groups, and no action was taken by the end of the year. (references) | |
Economic History | Slovenia | Then-Secretary of Defense William Perry visited Slovenia twice while in office. (references) |
Luxembourg | It was granted political autonomy in 1838 under King William I of the Netherlands, who also was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. (references) | |
Liberia | Doe's forces executed President William R. Tolbert and several officials of his government mostly of Americo-Liberian descent. (references) | |
Human Rights | Venezuela | On May 18, National Guard members in San Cristobal, Tachira state, beat William Ferrer and Arturo Teran. (references) |
Nicaragua | On April 4, William Rodriguez Valle reported that police officials in Cua Bocay shot and wounded his brother, Aquilino Rodriguez, for unknown reasons. (references) | |
United Kingdom | The victims included William Stobie in December, a former UDA member and police informant who had admitted involvement in the 1989 death of Patrick Finucane. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard. Should you ask me whence this laughter, Whence this audible big-smiling, With its labial extension, With its maxillar distortion And its diaphragmic rhythmus Like the billowing of an ocean, Like the shaking of a carpet, I should answer, I should tell you: From the great deeps of the spirit, From the unplummeted abysmus Of the soul this laughter welleth As the fountain, the gug-guggle, Like the river from the canon [sic], To entoken and give warning That my present mood is sunny. Should you ask me further question -- Why the great deeps of the spirit, Why the unplummeted abysmus Of the soule extrudes this laughter, This all audible big-smiling, I should answer, I should tell you With a white heart, tumpitumpy, With a true tongue, honest Injun: William Bryan, he has Caught It, Caught the Whangdepootenawah! Is't the sandhill crane, the shankank, Standing in the marsh, the kneedeep, Standing silent in the kneedeep With his wing-tips crossed behind him And his neck close-reefed before him, With his bill, his william, buried In the down upon his bosom, With his head retracted inly, While his shoulders overlook it? Does the sandhill crane, the shankank, Shiver grayly in the north wind, Wishing he had died when little, As the sparrow, the chipchip, does? No 'tis not the Shankank standing, Standing in the gray and dismal Marsh, the gray and dismal kneedeep. No, 'tis peerless William Bryan Realizing that he's Caught It, Caught the Whangdepootenawah! |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Earl Charles Spencer | Well, I think in the medium term William wants to go into the armed services in some form. This is a traditional part of the royal upbringing, but he'd actually liked to do it of his own volition, so that's great. |
John Hartmann | William Clinton came to town riding on inflation. Took a town named Whitewater, introduced to our nation. |
Rush Limbaugh | The Mayflower Pilgrims, led by William Bradford, established the freest society ever conceived based on the teachings and tolerance of the Bible. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "WILLIAM" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 99.95% of the time. "WILLIAM" is used about 8,384 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (proper) | 99.95% | 8,380 | 1,150 |
| Total | 100.00% | 8,384 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "WILLIAM" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| William | First name Female | 7,000 | 1,118 |
| William | First name Male | 2,451,000 | 5 |
| William | Last name | 16,000 | 731 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| "WILLIAM" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "a will", "a desire", "a helmet", "a protection". | |||
| The following table summarizes names related to "WILLIAM." | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Related Name |
| Gwilherm | Male | Breton | William |
| Guillem | Male | Catalan | William |
| Vilem | Male | Czech | William |
| Willem | Male | Dutch | William |
| Bill | Male | English | William |
| Billie | Male, Female | English | William |
| Billy | Male | English | William |
| Wilkie | Male | English | William |
| Will | Male | English | William |
| Willa | Female | English | William |
| William | Male | English | N/A |
| Willie | Male, Female | English | William |
| Willis | Male | English | William |
| Willy | Male | English | William |
| Wilmot | Male | English | William |
| Wilson | Male | English | William |
| Vilchjo | Male | Esperanto | William |
| Vilhelmo | Male | Esperanto | William |
| Vilhelmi | Male | Finnish | William |
| Vilhelmiina | Female | Finnish | William |
| Viljami | Male | Finnish | William |
| Ville | Male | Finnish | William |
| Guillaume | Male | French | William |
| Wilhelm | Male | German | William |
| Wilhelmina | Female | German | William |
| Vilhelm | Male | Hungarian | William |
| Vili | Male | Hungarian | William |
| Vilmos | Male | Hungarian | William |
| Vilhjálmur | Male | Icelandic | William |
| Liam | Male | Irish | William |
| Uilliam | Male | Irish | William |
| Guglielmo | Male | Italian | William |
| Velvel | Male | Jewish | William |
| Vilhelms | Male | Latvian | William |
| Wiremu | Male | Maori | William |
| Guilherme | Male | Portuguese | William |
| Vilhelm | Male | Scandinavian | William |
| Uilleam | Male | Scottish | William |
| Viljem | Male | Slovene | William |
| Guillermo | Male | Spanish | William |
| Gwil | Male | Welsh | William |
| Gwilim | Male | Welsh | William |
| Gwillym | Male | Welsh | William |
| Gwilym | Male | Welsh | William |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Country | Name | Country | Name |
| Canada | William Multi-Tech Inc | Denmark | William Demant Holding |
| Philippines | William Gothong & Aboitiz, Inc. | United Kingdom | William Baird PLC |
| USA | William Lyon Homes | ||
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "WILLIAM": Alben William Barkley ♦ Alfred Charles William Harmsworth ♦ Andrew William Mellon ♦ Bertrand Arthur William Russell ♦ Chester William Nimitz ♦ Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood ♦ Clyde William Tombaugh ♦ Frederic William Maitland ♦ Frederick William ♦ Frederick William I ♦ Frederick William II ♦ Frederick William III ♦ Frederick William Iv ♦ Jack William Nicklaus ♦ James William Fulbright ♦ John William Strutt ♦ Joseph Mallord William Turner ♦ King William ♦ King William County ♦ king William pine ♦ Port William ♦ president William Henry Harrison ♦ Prince William County ♦ Robert William Service ♦ Sir Charles William Siemens ♦ Sir Frederick William Herschel ♦ Sir John Frederick William Herschel ♦ Sir William Alexander Craigie ♦ Sir William Crookes ♦ Sir William Gerald Golding ♦ Sir William Gilbert ♦ Sir William Herschel ♦ Sir William Huggins ♦ Sir William Rowan Hamilton ♦ Sir William Turner Walton ♦ Sir William Wallace ♦ Sir William Walton ♦ Stephen William Hawking ♦ sweet william ♦ Walter William Skeat ♦ William A. Craigie ♦ William and Mary ♦ William Augustus ♦ William Averell Harriman ♦ William Benjamin Hogan ♦ William Blake ♦ William Bligh ♦ William Bradford ♦ William Bradford Shockley ♦ William Burroughs ♦ William Butler Yeats ♦ William Carlos Williams ♦ William Christopher Handy ♦ William Claire Menninger ♦ William Clark ♦ William Clark Gable ♦ William Claude Dukenfield ♦ William Crawford Gorgas ♦ William Crookes ♦ William Curtis ♦ William Cuthbert Faulkner ♦ William Dawes ♦ William Dean Howells ♦ William Dudley Haywood ♦ William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ♦ William Ewart Gladstone ♦ William F. Cody ♦ William Falkner ♦ William Faulkner ♦ William Franklin Graham ♦ William Frederick Cody ♦ William Fulbright ♦ William Gibson ♦ William Gilbert ♦ William Gladstone ♦ William Golding ♦ William Graham Sumner ♦ William Green ♦ William H. Bonney ♦ William Hamilton ♦ William Harrison Dempsey ♦ William Harrison Hays ♦ William Harvey ♦ William Hazlitt ♦ William Henry ♦ William Henry Beveridge ♦ William Henry Fox Talbot ♦ William Henry Gates ♦ William Henry Harrison ♦ William Henry Hoover ♦ William Henry Hudson ♦ William Henry Mauldin ♦ William Henry Pratt ♦ William Henry Seward ♦ William Herschel ♦ William Hogarth ♦ William Holman Hunt ♦ William Holmes McGuffey ♦ William Hoover ♦ William Howard Taft ♦ William Hubbs Rehnquist. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "WILLIAM": William-and-mary, William-mallaig. | |
Ending with "WILLIAM": John-william. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "WILLIAM"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | karafil (carnation, clove, harebrained, sweet william). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | самакитка (aconite, sweet william, wolf's bane). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | militaire Willemsorde (Military Order of William), duizendschoon (sweet william). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | Vilhelmfortikaĵo (Fort William), barba dianto (sweet william). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | Ordre militaire de Guillaume (Military Order of William). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Wilhelm. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | "ουλιέλμοσ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | török szegfû (sweet william). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | Illiam (Bill, Billy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | illiamway вильям, Уильям, 'ильгельм. (various references) Uilleam. (various references) vilijam. (various references) hüsnüyusuf (sweet william), guguçiçeği (sweet william). (various references) Gwilym. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"WILLIAM" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Gwillam, Gwillim, Gwylim, Illima, Viliami, Wilia, Wililiam, willehalm, willem, Willisau, Willium. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-i-i-l-l-m-w" | |
-2 letters: ilial, maill, milia. | |
-3 letters: ilia, lima, mail, mall, mill, wail, wall, will. | |
-4 letters: ail, aim, all, ami, awl, ill, lam, law, maw, mil. | |
-5 letters: ai, al, am, aw, la, li, ma, mi. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-i-i-l-l-m-w" | |
+2 letters: milliwatt. | |
+3 letters: milliwatts. | |
+4 letters: whimsically. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Names: Frequency 14. Names: Derived from 15. Names: Company Usage 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Derivations 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
