Sir Martin Frobisher

1 9.9

An English explorer who led Arctic voyages to find the Northwest Passage and helped defeat the Spanish Armada

proper noun

: Sir Martin Frobisher

Sir Martin Frobisher led several voyages to the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage.

Examples

Historians credit Sir Martin Frobisher with playing a crucial role in defending England from the Spanish Armada.
The exploits of Sir Martin Frobisher are still studied by maritime scholars today.
Did Sir Martin Frobisher discover the Northwest Passage?
Many historians study the life of Sir Martin Frobisher.
Sir Martin Frobisher led several voyages to the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage.
Historians credit Sir Martin Frobisher with playing a crucial role in defending England from the Spanish Armada.
The exploits of Sir Martin Frobisher are still studied by maritime scholars today.

Surface Forms

Sir Martin Frobisher main

Morphology

Sir + Martin + Frobisher

This is a personal name with a title: knowing 'Sir' (a respectful title) and 'Martin' (a given name) does not allow a B1 learner to infer the historical identity or role of 'Sir Martin Frobisher' (a 16th-century English navigator/explorer), and 'Frobisher' as a surname carries no transparent lexical meaning. Proper names are referential and idiosyncratic rather than compositional, so the referent cannot be derived from the constituent words.

Etymology

Sir Martin Frobisher was an English sea captain in the 1500s who sailed into icy northern seas looking for a shortcut to Asia called the 'Northwest Passage'. People remember him for daring voyages, for bringing back dark rocks he thought were gold, and for helping defend England from the 'Spanish Armada', so his name now brings to mind bold sea exploration.