Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
H.M.S. Bounty

H.M.S. Bounty

1 9.0
A British navy ship famous for a 1789 crew rebellion against Captain Bligh
  • proper noun
: H.M.S. Bounty
  • The mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty is one of history's most famous maritime uprisings.

Examples

  • Captain Bligh was set adrift after the infamous rebellion aboard the H.M.S. Bounty.

  • A museum in London features artifacts recovered from the H.M.S. Bounty.

  • The infamous H.M.S. Bounty was the site of a historic mutiny.

  • Did you know that H.M.S. Bounty was originally a merchant vessel?

  • A museum in London features artifacts recovered from the H.M.S. Bounty.

  • Captain Bligh was set adrift after the infamous rebellion aboard the H.M.S. Bounty.

  • The mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty is one of history's most famous maritime uprisings.

Synonyms

Bounty
vsH.M.S. Bounty
4 8.0

A British naval ship famous for a mutiny in 1789

refers to the same ship but keeps the formal ship prefix in writing
HMS Bounty
vsH.M.S. Bounty
1 7.8

A British navy ship known for the 1789 mutiny against its captain

has identical meaning but is written with periods in the ship prefix

Surface Forms

H.M.S. Bounty main

Morphology

H.M.S. + Bounty

Knowing 'H.M.S.' as a ship-prefix and 'Bounty' as a name lets a learner infer that this is a naval vessel called the Bounty, so part of the meaning (a ship identity) is directly derivable from the constituents. However, the specific historical information — that it is best known for the 1789 mutiny — is world-knowledge that cannot be predicted from the parts alone, making the expression only partially transparent to learners.

Etymology

H.M.S. Bounty was a British navy ship whose name joins H.M.S. as the royal ship title and Bounty, a word for 'generosity' or 'plenty'. It became famous after a dramatic 'mutiny' in 1789, when some crew took the ship and left Captain Bligh in a small boat to drift, so today the name brings to mind that rebellion.