Gaius Julius Caesar
- proper noun
:
Cayo Julio César
- The famous general, Gaius Julius Caesar, conquered Gaul.
Examples
-
The assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar marked a turning point in the history of Rome.
-
Shakespeare's famous play dramatizes the last days of Gaius Julius Caesar.
-
Many historians consider Gaius Julius Caesar one of the most influential leaders in world history.
-
Did Gaius Julius Caesar really cross the Rubicon?
-
Many historians consider Gaius Julius Caesar one of the most influential leaders in world history.
-
The assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar marked a turning point in the history of Rome.
-
The famous general, Gaius Julius Caesar, conquered Gaul.
Synonyms
358
5.7
A Roman general and leader who conquered Gaul and became dictator
1
5.3
Roman general and leader who became dictator in the first century BC
Surface Forms
Morphology
Gaius + Julius + Caesar
This is a referential proper name rather than a compositional phrase: knowing the individual names 'Gaius', 'Julius' and even 'Caesar' does not allow a B1 learner to infer the biographical meaning 'Roman general, statesman, and dictator'. Proper names are arbitrary labels (even if 'Caesar' has historical associations in some languages), so the sense is not derivable from the constituents and is therefore idiomatic/opaque.
Etymology
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and leader who lived long ago and who won many wars and then took control of Rome. Because he crossed the Rubicon and made himself ruler, his name came to mean a very powerful ruler — later leaders even used 'Caesar' as a title, so his name now reminds us of someone who became the single ruler of a state.