Ray Robinson

3 6.2

An American boxer who won the world middleweight title five times and the world welterweight title once

proper noun
/reɪ ˈrɒbɪnsən/

: Ray Robinson

In 1946, Ray Robinson became the first boxer to win the world middleweight championship five times.

Examples

Ray Robinson won his first welterweight title in the 1940s.
Many consider Ray Robinson to be the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in history.
The legendary career of Ray Robinson inspired generations of fighters.
Did you know that Ray Robinson was also known as 'Sugar Ray'?
In 1946, Ray Robinson became the first boxer to win the world middleweight championship five times.
Many consider Ray Robinson to be the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in history.
The legendary career of Ray Robinson inspired generations of fighters.

Synonyms

Sugar Ray Robinson

vsRay Robinson

3 5.6

An American professional boxer who is seen as one of the greatest fighters ever

uses the plain personal name without the famous nickname

Surface Forms

Ray Robinson main

Morphology

Ray + Robinson

This is a proper name referring to a specific individual; the literal meanings of the constituents ('ray' as a beam of light and 'Robinson' as a surname) do not indicate 'American professional boxer' or championship information. Proper names are referential and largely arbitrary, so a B1 learner who knows the words would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning from its parts.

Etymology

Ray Robinson was a famous American boxer who won world titles many times and was known for being very fast and smooth in the ring. People picture him as a nearly unbeatable, graceful fighter, so his name often stands for a 'great boxer'.