Medgar Wiley Evers

1 7.9

An American civil rights leader in Mississippi who worked to end segregation and was killed in 1963

proper noun
/ˈmɛdɡər ˈwaɪli ˈɛvərz/

: Medgar Wiley Evers

Medgar Wiley Evers played a crucial role in the fight for civil rights in Mississippi.

Examples

The life and work of Medgar Wiley Evers continue to inspire generations of activists.
Many people gathered to honor the legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers on the anniversary of his assassination.
Medgar Wiley Evers was a brave man.
Did you know Medgar Wiley Evers changed history?
Medgar Wiley Evers played a crucial role in the fight for civil rights in Mississippi.
Many people gathered to honor the legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers on the anniversary of his assassination.
The life and work of Medgar Wiley Evers continue to inspire generations of activists.

Synonyms

Medgar Evers

vsMedgar Wiley Evers

9 7.2

An American civil rights activist in Mississippi killed for working for equal rights

is the full formal name including the middle name

Surface Forms

Medgar Wiley Evers main

Morphology

Medgar + Wiley + Evers

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; the constituent tokens are not lexical words with meaningful definitions, so knowing them does not allow a learner to infer that the referent was a civil-rights activist who was assassinated. Proper names are arbitrary and rely on world knowledge rather than compositional semantics, so the meaning is not derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Medgar Wiley Evers was a Black civil rights leader in Mississippi who worked to register Black voters and to end segregation. He was killed in 1963, and so his name today stands for the struggle for 'equal rights' and continues to inspire people.