Arthur
| Arthur | |
|---|---|
 Statue of King Arthur, designed by Albrecht Dürer and cast by Peter Vischer the Elder, early 16th century[1] |
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| Pronunciation | /ˈɑrθər/ |
| Gender | Male |
| Language(s) | English |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | Latin or Celtic |
| Meaning | Bear or bear-like |
| Other names | |
| See also | Artur, Art (short form), Arttu (Finnish variant) |
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Look up Arthur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Arthur is a common masculine given name. Its etymology is disputed, but its popularity derives from its being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur.
Art and Artie are diminutive forms of the name. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur.
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Etymology[edit]
The origin of the name Arthur remains a matter of debate. Some suggest it is derived from the Roman nomen gentile (family name) Artōrius, of obscure and contested etymology[2] (but possibly of Messapic[3][4][5] or Etruscan origin[6][7][8]). Some scholars have noted that the legendary King Arthur's name only appears as Arthur, or Arturus, in early Latin Arthurian texts, never as Artōrius (although the Classical Latin Artōrius became Arturius in some Vulgar Latin dialects). However, this may not say anything about the origin of the name Arthur, as Artōrius would regularly become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh.[9]
Another possibility is that it is derived from a Brittonic patronym *Arto-rīg-ios (the root of which, *arto-rīg- "bear-king" is to be found in the Old Irish personal name Art-ri) via a Latinized form Artōrius.[10] Less likely is the commonly proposed derivation from Welsh arth "bear" + (g)wr "man" (earlier *Arto-uiros in Brittonic); there are phonological difficulties with this theory - notably that a Brittonic compound name *Arto-uiros should produce Old Welsh *Artgur and Middle/Modern Welsh *Arthwr and not Arthur (in Welsh poetry the name is always spelled Arthur and is exclusively rhymed with words ending in -ur - never words ending in -wr - which confirms that the second element cannot be [g]wr "man").[11][12]
An alternative theory, which has only gained limited acceptance among scholars,[13][14][15][16][17][18] derives the name Arthur from the Latin Arcturus (the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, near Ursa Major or the Great Bear[19]), which is the latinisation of the Greek Αρκτοῦρος (Arktouros) and means "Guardian of the Bear",[20] ultimately from ἄρκτος (arktos), "bear"[21] + οὖρος (ouros), "watcher, guardian".[22] Classical Latin Arcturus would also have become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in the sky led people to regard it as the "guardian of the bear" and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes.[23]
A similar first name is Old Irish Artúr, which is believed to be derived directly from an early Old Welsh or Cumbric Artur.[24] The earliest historically attested bearer of the name is a son or grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin (d. AD 609).[25]
People, characters and animals with the given name Arthur[edit]
Historical[edit]
- Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, a nephew of Kings Richard I and John of England and a rival claimant to John's throne
- Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish author, best known for the Sherlock Holmes mysteries
- Arthur Miller, American playwright, best known for The Crucible and Death of a Salesman
- Arthur, Prince of Wales, the elder brother of King Henry VIII
- Arthur Schopenhauer, 19th-century philosopher.
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, 19th-century British soldier and statesman.
Legendary[edit]
- King Arthur, king of Britain in the Arthurian legend
Animals[edit]
- Arthur (racehorse), the unlucky runner up in the 1840 Grand National
Fictional characters[edit]
- Arthur the Artificial Intelligence, a character from the Journeyman Project computer games
- Arthur Bach, a character played by Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur
- Arthur Beare, a character played by Garry McDonald in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV series Mother and Son
- Arthur Brown, the more instinctive brother in Patrick White's novel The Solid Mandala
- Arthur the chimpanzee, from Lillian Hoban's children's books
- Arthur Curry, the DC Comics superhero known as Aquaman
- Arthur Daley, lead character played by George Cole in the British comedy-drama Minder (TV series)
- Arthur Dent, a "mild-mannered Earthman" whose planet is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Victorian novel, The Scarlet Letter
- Arthur Fancy, NYPD Lieutenant on NYPD Blue.
- Fonzie, Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, a character on the television sitcom Happy Days.
- Arthur Holland, LAPD Deputy Chief on Dark Blue.
- Arthur Kirkland (disambiguation), multiple characters
- Arthur Petrelli, a character in the NBC drama series Heroes
- Arthur Penhaligon, main character in The Keys to the Kingdom series
- Arthur (plant), a running gag in MAD Magazine
- Arthur Read, the aardvark from the Arthur children's books by Marc Brown and the PBS television series Arthur
- Arthur Rudge, a character on the television sitcom On the Buses played by Michael Robbins.
- Arthur (Soul Calibur), a minor character in Soul Calibur, as a replacement for Mitsurugi in nations where it is forbidden to feature samurai in games
- Arthur Spooner, a character on the television sitcom The King of Queens played by Jerry Stiller
- Arthur (Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends), a character in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
- Arthur (The Tick), sidekick of superhero The Tick
- Arthur Trine from Gundam Seed Destiny
- Arthur Weasley, from the Harry Potter books
- Sergeant Arthur Wilson, character played by John Le Mesurier in the British sitcom Dad's Army
- Little Arthur from ABC kids. The bear (Little Arthur)
- Artillery Arthur, Marshall's boss in the hit sitcom, How I Met Your Mother.
- Arthur (The Point Man) from the movie Inception.
- Arthur Kirkland, the national personification version of England in the manga and anime Hetalia: Axis Powers
In music[edit]
- Philemon Arthur, pseudonym for one of the members of the Swedish duo Philemon Arthur and the Dung, whose real names are unknown
- Arthur ("Art") Garfunkel, one half of Simon & Garfunkel
Tropical cyclones[edit]
- Tropical Storm Arthur (disambiguation): Arthur is the name of several tropical cyclones in the North Nebraska and Fiji cyclone naming schools.
In different languages[edit]
- Albanian: Artur
- Armenian: Արթուր (Artur)
- Basque: Artur, Artza
- Breton: Arzhur
- Bulgarian: Артур (Artur)
- Catalan: Artur, Artús
- Croatian: Artur
- Czech: Artuš, Artur
- Danish: Arthur
- Dutch: Arthur
- Estonian: Artur
- Finnish: Artturi, Arttu
- French: Arthur
- Galician: Artur, Artús
- Georgian: ართური (Arturi)
- German: Artur, Arthur
- Greek: Αρθούρος (Arthoúros)
- Hebrew: ארתור (Artur)
- Hungarian: Artúr
- Icelandic: Arthur
- Irish: Artúr
- Italian: Arturo, Artù[26]
- Japanese:アーサー
- Medieval Latin: Arturus, Arthurus
- Latvian: Artūrs
- Lithuanian: Artūras
- Maltese: Arturu, Turu
- Norwegian: Artur
- Polish: Artur
- Portuguese: Artur, Arthur
- Russian: Артур (Artur)
- Serbian: Артур (Artur)
- Slovakian: Artúr
- Slovenian: Artur
- Spanish: Arturo
- Swedish: Artur
- Turkish: Artur
- Ukrainian: Артур (Artur)
- Uzbek: Artur
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Barber 1986, p. 141
- ^ Malone 1925
- ^ Marcella Chelotti, Vincenza Morizio, Marina Silvestrini, Le epigrafi romane di Canosa, Volume 1, Edipuglia srl, 1990, pg. 261, 264.
- ^ Ciro Santoro, "Per la nuova iscrizione messapica di Oria", La Zagaglia, A. VII, n. 27, 1965, P. 271-293.
- ^ Ciro Santoro, La Nuova Epigrafe Messapica "IM 4. 16, I-III" di Ostuni ed nomi in Art-, Ricerche e Studi, Volume 12, 1979, p. 45-60
- ^ Wilhelm Schulze, Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen (Volume 5, Issue 2 of Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften Göttingen Philologisch-Historische Klasse) , 2nd Edition, Weidmann, 1966, p. 72, pp. 333-338
- ^ Olli Salomies: Die römischen Vornamen. Studien zur römischen Namengebung. Helsinki 1987, p. 68
- ^ Herbig, Gust., "Falisca", Glotta, Band II, Göttingen, 1910, p. 98
- ^ Koch 1996, p. 253
- ^ Zimmer, Stefan, "The Name of Arthur - A New Etymology ", Journal of Celtic Linguistics, Volume 13, Number 1, March 2009, University of Wales Press, pp. 131-136.
- ^ See Higham 2002, p. 74.
- ^ See Higham 2002, p. 80.
- ^ Bromwich, Rachel, Trioedd ynys Prydein: the Welsh triads, University of Wales Press, 1978, p. 544
- ^ Zimmer, Stefan, Die keltischen Wurzeln der Artussage: mit einer vollständigen Übersetzung der ältesten Artuserzählung Culhwch und Olwen, Winter, 2006, p. 37
- ^ Zimmer, Stefan, "The Name of Arthur - A New Etymology ", Journal of Celtic Linguistics, Volume 13, Number 1, March 2009, University of Wales Press, pp. 131-136.
- ^ Walter, Philippe, Faccia M. (trans.), Artù. L'orso e il re, Edizioni Arkeios, 2005, p. 74.
- ^ Johnson, Flint, The British sources of the abduction and Grail romances, University Press of America, 2002, pp. 38-39.
- ^ Chambers, Edmund Kerchever, Arthur of Britain, Speculum Historiale, 1964, p. 170
- ^ arctūrus, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus
- ^ Αρκτοῦρος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ ἄρκτος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ οὖρος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ Anderson 2004, pp. 28–29; Green 2007b, pp. 191–4.
- ^ * Jaski, Bart, Early Irish examples of the name Arthur, Z.C.P. band 56, 2004.
- ^ Adomnán, I, 8–9 and translator's note 81; Bannerman, pp. 82–83. Bannerman, pp. 90–91, notes that Artúr is the son of Conaing, son of Áedán in the Senchus fer n-Alban.
- ^ WordReference.com Online Language Dictionaries. http://www.wordreference.com/enit/Arthur.
References[edit]
- Anderson, Graham (2004), King Arthur in Antiquity, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-31714-6.
- Barber, Richard (1986), King Arthur: Hero and Legend, Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, ISBN 0-85115-254-6.
- Green, Thomas (August, 2007), "Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer: Two Arthurian Fairytales?", Folklore 118 (2): 123–40, doi:10.1080/00155870701337296. (EBSCO subscription required for online access.)
- Green, Thomas (2007b), Concepts of Arthur, Stroud: Tempus, ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1.
- Higham, N. J. (2002), King Arthur, Myth-Making and History, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-21305-9.
- Koch, John T. (1996), "The Celtic Lands", in Lacy, Norris J., Medieval Arthurian Literature: A Guide to Recent Research, New York: Garland, pp. 239–322, ISBN 978-0-8153-2160-6.
- Koch, John T.; Carey, John (1994), The Celtic Heroic Age: Literary Sources for Ancient Celtic Europe and Early Ireland and Wales, Malden, MA: Celtic Studies Publications, ISBN 978-0-9642446-2-7.
- Malone, Kemp (May, 1925), "Artorius", Modern Philology 22 (4): 367–74, doi:10.1086/387553, JSTOR 433555. (JSTOR subscription required for online access.)
- Jaski, Bart, Early Irish examples of the name Arthur, Z.C.P. band 56, 2004
