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Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx

1 7.5
A Belgian racing cyclist who won the Tour de France five times
  • proper noun
: Eddy Merckx
  • Eddy Merckx dominated professional cycling in the 1970s, winning multiple grand tours and classics.

Examples

  • During the 1969 Tour de France, Eddy Merckx took the yellow jersey by a record margin.

  • Many consider Eddy Merckx the greatest cyclist ever.

  • Many cycling fans consider Eddy Merckx to be the greatest rider in history.

  • Eddy Merckx is a legend.

  • Eddy Merckx won the Tour de France five times, setting a record for the most overall victories.

  • In cycling discussions, Eddy Merckx is often hailed as the greatest cyclist of all time.

  • Eddy Merckx achieved remarkable success in numerous cycling events during his illustrious career.

Surface Forms

Morphology

Eddy + Merckx

This is a proper name referring to a specific person (a famous Belgian cyclist), so its referential meaning (identity, biographical facts) cannot be derived from the constituent tokens 'Eddy' and 'Merckx', which are not semantically compositional words. Knowing the individual name parts gives no clue to the person’s identity or achievements; understanding requires specific world/cultural knowledge rather than compositional inference.

Etymology

Eddy Merckx is the name of a Belgian racing cyclist who won many of the sport's biggest races, including the Tour de France five times. Because he won so often he was nicknamed 'The Cannibal' for his hunger to win, and that's why his name now stands for being the best in cycling.