Edmond Rostand

1 8.5

A French playwright and poet who wrote the play Cyrano de Bergerac

proper noun

: Edmond Rostand

The play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' was written by Edmond Rostand in the late nineteenth century.

Examples

Many critics regard Edmond Rostand as one of the last great Romantic dramatists in France.
Edmond Rostand is best known for his beloved play 'Cyrano de Bergerac.'
Edmond Rostand's name is forever linked to the character of Cyrano.
The famous playwright Edmond Rostand wrote many timeless works.
Edmond Rostand is celebrated for his poetic language.
Many students study Edmond Rostand in their literature classes to explore his contributions to French drama.
The theatrical world remembers Edmond Rostand as a pioneer of Romanticism in the early twentieth century.

Surface Forms

Edmond Rostand main

Morphology

Edmond + Rostand

This is a personal name (proper noun) whose meaning is an arbitrary referent (a specific French dramatist); knowing the individual name parts 'Edmond' and 'Rostand' does not allow a B1 learner to infer the biographical information. Personal names are language-specific labels rather than compositional phrases, so the referent is unpredictable from the constituents.

Etymology

Edmond Rostand is remembered because he wrote the famous play 'Cyrano de Bergerac', about a brave, poetic man with a very large nose who wins people over with his words. That strong picture made Rostand's name stand for romantic, heroic drama.