Alfred Thayer Mahan

1 9.6

An American navy officer and historian who wrote that control of the sea makes a country powerful

proper noun
/ˈælfərd ˈθeɪər ˈmæn/

: Alfred Thayer Mahan

Did you know that Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote 'The Influence of Sea Power upon History'?

Examples

The theories of Alfred Thayer Mahan greatly influenced naval strategy.
Many military academies still study the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan.
Alfred Thayer Mahan's theories changed the way nations approached naval power in the 20th century.
The influence of Alfred Thayer Mahan extended beyond the United States to other naval powers around the world.
Alfred Thayer Mahan's writings emphasized the critical role of sea power in expanding national influence.
The strategic concepts developed by Alfred Thayer Mahan are still relevant in modern military education.
Historians often credit Alfred Thayer Mahan with laying the groundwork for contemporary naval doctrine.

Surface Forms

Alfred Thayer Mahan main

Morphology

Alfred + Thayer + Mahan

This item is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; knowing the individual name parts ('Alfred', 'Thayer', 'Mahan') does not allow a learner to infer the biographical meaning (U.S. naval officer and historian). Proper nouns encode world knowledge rather than compositional semantic content, so the meaning is unpredictable from the constituents.

Etymology

Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States naval officer and writer who made a simple, powerful idea famous: that control of the sea helps a country become strong. His books showed how ships and ports give a nation strength, so the phrase 'sea power' became a key idea in how countries planned their navies.