John Wilkes
5
8.1
- proper noun
- In a remarkable twist of fate, Edwin Booth, the older brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, saved the life of Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's son, in 1863 or 1864.
Examples
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You figure that out. John Wilkes Booth was a Democrat.
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Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
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Could you tell me how John Wilkes Booth, Confederate sympathizer, was a leftist?
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The decoration depicts a cartoon of the English politician John Wilkes (1727-1797) by Hogarth.
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In a remarkable twist of fate, Edwin Booth, the older brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, saved the life of Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's son, in 1863 or 1864.
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Could you tell me how John Wilkes Booth, Confederate sympathizer, was a leftist?
Surface Forms
Morphology
John + Wilkes
This is a proper name referring to a specific historical individual; the meaning (an English reformer active in the 18th century) cannot be derived from the constituent words 'John' and 'Wilkes'. Proper names are referential and require factual/world knowledge rather than compositional analysis, so a B1 learner who only knows the word forms would not be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
John Wilkes was an English writer and politician in the 1700s who printed angry articles about King George III and fought for the 'freedom of the press' and colonists' 'rights'. Because he kept speaking out even when punished, his name came to stand for speaking up and political freedom.