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Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

172 1.9
A United States civil rights leader who used peaceful protest to win equal rights for Black people
  • proper noun
  • /ˈmɑrtɪn ˈluːθər kɪŋ/
: Martin Luther King
  • Gannon modeled his talk on Martin Luther King's "Dream" speech.
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • assassinated Martin Luther King

First of all, happy Martin Luther King Junior Day, everybody.

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Examples

  • Like Martin Luther King said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

  • The speech delivered by Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial is considered one of the most powerful in American history.

  • And that night, Martin Luther King gave his last speech.

  • First of all, happy Martin Luther King Junior Day, everybody.

  • There was no school because it was Martin Luther King Day.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I am proud of my country tonight because I think of Martin Luther King.

    Blog text (13)
  • The memorial is also famous for Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech.

    Blog text (13)
  • Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis, today.

  • Ultimately, should we be a colorblind society is what Martin Luther King said, not to judge people by the color of their skin.

  • An old newsreel of Martin Luther King's last speech was playing on the TV.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

Martin Luther King Jr.
vsMartin Luther King
52 2.3

An American church minister who fights for equal rights for Black people through peaceful protest

is the same person without the generational title in the name

Surface Forms

Morphology

Martin + Luther + king

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person (Martin Luther King Jr.), and that referential meaning (civil rights leader, minister) cannot be derived from the constituent words. Knowing 'king' might even mislead a learner into thinking of royalty; proper names are largely arbitrary and language-specific, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Martin Luther King is the name of a US civil rights leader who used 'peaceful protest' to fight for equal rights for Black people. His famous 'I Have a Dream' speech and large marches made his name a symbol of the movement.