William and Mary

1 7.7

Two rulers of England, William III and Mary II, who ruled together from 1689 to 1694

proper noun

: Guillermo y María

Archibald, the 10th Earl of Argyll, was among those nobles who went to Holland to offer the Scottish crown to William and Mary.
the College of William and Mary

Examples

And there is no shortage of other institutions where there should be further exploration: Transylvania University, the colleges of Randolph Macon and William and Mary, and the Universities of Georgia, Mississippi, North Alabama, and South Carolina all spring to mind.

Academic text (2006)
Visitors of William and Mary College.

Academic text (2016)
James F. Harris is Haserot Professor of Philosophy at the College of William and Mary.

Academic text (2006)
In Bracken v. Visitors of William and Mary College, 55

Academic text (2016)
The reign of William and Mary in Scotland was cemented at the Battle of Cromdale in the spring of 1690.

Academic text (2006)
In the Virginia Court of Appeals, Marshall represented the College of William and Mary against a professor, Reverend Bracken, who complained that the board of visitors of the college was not the proper authority to make changes to the curriculum of the school.

Academic text (2016)
Again, the English had ignored the Scots as they deposed their monarch in 1688, but the acceptance of William and Mary became legal in both England and Scotland.

Academic text (2006)
Martin Gallivan, the William and Mary professor who has found the principal residence of Chief Powhatan from 1607 to 1609, Werowocomoco, is one of these.

Academic text (2006)
Again, the English had ignored the Scots as they deposed their monarch in 1688, but the acceptance of William and Mary became legal in both England and Scotland.
Visitors of William and Mary College were amazed by the historical significance of the institution.

Surface Forms

William and Mary main

Morphology

William + and + Mary

This is a fixed proper-name label for a specific historical joint monarchy; knowing the constituent words 'William', 'and', 'Mary' does not allow a B1 learner to infer the referent 'William III and Mary II who ruled 1689–1694'. The meaning depends on historical/cultural knowledge rather than transparent composition, so it is not predictable from the parts.

Etymology

William and Mary names the two people William and Mary who became joint rulers of England in 1689 after a change of power. They ruled together and brought in a document called the English Bill of Rights, so the two names are used together to mean their 'shared rule' and the start of new rules for government.