St. Louis
313
3.2
- proper noun
- /seɪnt ˈluːɪs/
- Many tourists visit St. Louis to see the iconic Gateway Arch.
- St. Louis, Missouri
- St. Louis, MO
- St. Louis area
Examples
-
He's from St. Louis, Missouri.
-
Paul, R. (2007). Language Disorders: From Infancy Through Adolescence (3rd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Academic text (2012) -
- Been to St. Louis?
-
I happen to know that the university lawyer is in St. Louis this weekend at a large family wedding.
Fiction book (1995) -
No, do you want a lift to St. Louis?
-
-I just landed in St. Louis.
-
I've got some friends in St. Louis.
-
James worked in St. Louis, first for Washington University as a programmer, then for Anheuser-Busch.
Fiction book (1997) -
Sidney Archer walked in front of the triple-steepled St. Louis Cathedral on her way to find food.
Fiction book (1997) -
Last call for bus number 33, leaving for St. Louis... Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Tucson and Los Angeles.
Synonyms
27
2.0
A large city in eastern Missouri by the Mississippi River
Surface Forms
Morphology
St. + Louis
This is a proper noun (toponym) whose reference to a specific city in Missouri cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'St.' (Saint) and 'Louis'. A B1 learner who knows the words might infer it is a name (probably of a person or place), but would not be able to deduce the specific referent, location, or cultural/historical information from the parts alone. Proper names are largely arbitrary labels for entities and thus unpredictable from their components.
Etymology
The city St. Louis was named by French settlers for St. Louis, 'King Louis' of France who later became a saint. The settlers built a trading town by the Mississippi and used his name, so today St. Louis refers to that city and its history as a river port and gateway to the West.