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Glite Dictionary
John Rutledge

John Rutledge

1 9.6
A United States judge who briefly served as Chief Justice before the Senate rejected his appointment
  • proper noun
: John Rutledge
  • John Rutledge was appointed as the second Chief Justice of the United States by George Washington.

Examples

  • The U.S. Senate ultimately rejected John Rutledge's appointment as Chief Justice in 1795.

  • Historians note that John Rutledge played a significant role in the early years of the Supreme Court.

  • The famous jurist John Rutledge was appointed by George Washington.

  • Did John Rutledge really serve as Chief Justice?

  • John Rutledge was appointed as the second Chief Justice of the United States by George Washington.

  • The U.S. Senate ultimately rejected John Rutledge's appointment as Chief Justice in 1795.

  • Historians note that John Rutledge played a significant role in the early years of the Supreme Court.

Surface Forms

John Rutledge main

Morphology

John + Rutledge

This is a personal name (proper noun) whose meaning is referential and depends on world/encyclopedic knowledge rather than compositional semantics; knowing the parts 'John' and 'Rutledge' does not let a B1 learner infer that the phrase refers to a historical U.S. jurist or chief justice. Proper names are typically non-compositional and language-specific, so the MWE cannot be derived from its constituent words.

Etymology

John Rutledge was an early United States judge chosen by George Washington to be the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. His appointment was only temporary and the Senate later rejected it, so he is remembered as a judge who briefly led the Court but did not keep the job.