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Glite Dictionary
William Kidd

William Kidd

1 7.8
A Scottish sea captain later accused of stealing from ships and executed
  • proper noun
: William Kidd
  • The infamous pirate William Kidd was executed in 1701.

Examples

  • Historians still debate whether William Kidd was truly a pirate or a scapegoat.

  • The legend of William Kidd has inspired countless pirate tales and movies.

  • A rare letter written by William Kidd was sold at auction last year.

  • William Kidd was a notorious pirate.

  • Historians still debate whether William Kidd was truly a pirate or a scapegoat.

  • A rare letter written by William Kidd was sold at auction last year.

  • The legend of William Kidd has inspired countless pirate tales and movies.

Synonyms

Captain Kidd
vsWilliam Kidd
2 8.8

A Scottish captain who protected British ships but later was accused of stealing at sea and hanged

uses executed as a broader term instead of specifying hanging

Surface Forms

William Kidd main

Morphology

William + Kidd

This is a proper name referring to a historical individual; knowing the constituent words 'William' and 'Kidd' (both personal names) does not convey the biographical meaning 'Scottish sea captain / pirate executed'. Proper names are referential and arbitary, so the MWE's meaning depends on world knowledge rather than compositional word meanings.

Etymology

William Kidd comes from a real Scottish sea captain in the late 1600s who was hired to protect ships but was later accused of being a 'pirate' and was hanged. Because of stories that he hid 'buried treasure' and had a famous trial, his name now makes people think of pirates and treasure.