Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Pepin the Short

Pepin the Short

1 8.5
A king of the Franks from 751 to 768 and father of Charlemagne
  • proper noun
: Pepin el Breve
  • Pepin the Short was crowned King of the Franks in 751, beginning a new royal dynasty.

Examples

  • The alliance between Pepin the Short and the Pope had lasting effects on European history.

  • Charlemagne, one of Europe's most famous rulers, was the son of Pepin the Short.

  • Historically, Pepin the Short was a significant figure in medieval Europe.

  • Did Pepin the Short really help establish the Carolingian dynasty?

  • Pepin the Short was crowned King of the Franks in 751, beginning a new royal dynasty.

  • Charlemagne, one of Europe's most famous rulers, was the son of Pepin the Short.

  • The alliance between Pepin the Short and the Pope had lasting effects on European history.

Synonyms

Pepin
vsPepin the Short
1 9.9

A king of the Franks from 751 to 768 who founded the Carolingian dynasty

is more specific by using a descriptive epithet instead of a brief name
Pepin III
vsPepin the Short
9.9

King of the Franks who started a new royal family and was Charlemagne's father

is the same person but named by a descriptive epithet not a regnal number

Surface Forms

Pepin the Short main

Morphology

Pepin + the + short

The structure proper name + definite article + adjective is compositionally clear: a B1 learner who knows 'Pepin', 'the' and 'short' can infer this labels a person named Pepin who was short (an epithet). However, the detailed historical information that he was King of the Franks and founder of the Carolingian dynasty cannot be derived from the constituents alone, so the full encyclopedic meaning is not predictable.

Etymology

Pepin the Short probably got his nickname because he was not very tall, so people called him Short to tell him apart from other rulers. That's why the name means 'the short one' today.