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Glite Dictionary
Black Prince

Black Prince

1 8.3
The eldest son of King Edward III of England who won important battles against France in the Hundred Years' War
  • proper noun
: Príncipe Negro
  • The Black Prince led his troops to victory at the Battle of Crécy.

Examples

  • The valor of the three knights saved them; it did not lead the Black Prince to spare the town.

    Academic text (1991)

  • It would have been news to Froissart that the Black Prince "began to show mercy to all the inhabitants of the city" by sparing the three fighting gentlemen.

    Academic text (1991)

  • In history, the Black Prince is known for his military prowess during the Hundred Years' War.

  • Many stories are told about the bravery of the Black Prince in battle against the French.

Surface Forms

Black Prince main

Morphology

black + prince

This is a proper-name epithet referring to a specific historical person (Edward of Woodstock) rather than a literal composition of 'black' + 'prince'. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to infer the identity, historical role, or non-literal origin of the nickname from the parts alone, so the meaning is not compositionally derivable.

Etymology

Black Prince may come from a famous image: one popular story says Edward often wore dark armour in battle, so people called him the Black Prince. That's why the name now means the man who was the 'eldest son' of King Edward III and a famous soldier.