humphrey
/ˈhʌmfɹi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.51 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A male given name from the Germanic languages.
name
A surname originating as a patronymic.
Example Sentences
- "I neuer ſaw but Humfrey Duke of Gloſter, / Did beare him like a Noble Gentleman: […]"
- ""Hump?" I asked. "Humphrey, really. But everybody calls him Hump. I know a lot of people who avoid calling him by his first name. For a long time people didn't think it was quite proper. But nowadays nobody seems to mind. What's happening to the power of words, Benny? Time was I used to blush at the words scrawled on fences, and now I hear them—everywhere. How are writers going to write books if language is going bland on them?""
Etymology
Name of a 9th-century French saint, brought to England by Normans; Proto-Germanic *unnaną (“to grant, bestow”) + *friþuz (“peace”). In Ireland it has been used to Anglicize Irish Amhlaoibh (= Olaf).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *unnaną