matilda
/məˈtɪldə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.26 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A female given name from the Germanic languages.
Example Sentences
- "But wondrously begotten, and begonne / By false illusion of a guilefull Spright, / On a faire Ladie Nonne, that whilome hight / Matilda, daughter to Pubidius, […]"
- "Countess of Laussitz - Matilda, too, by the mark! A good name, a marvellous good name, is not, Algernon? Musical, pretty, soft, smoothing, loveable. - - - many a fair prospect is spoiled by the mistake in the name. Call Matilda Joan, or Louisa Deborah, and you are ruined forever!"
- "At one time Joan invented other names for her. 'Matilda' brought to mind dingy curtains, gray tent flaps, a slack-skinned old woman. How about Sharon? Lilliane? Elizabeth? Then, Joan didn't know how, the name Matilda became transformed. It started shining like silver. The "il" in it was silver. But not metallic. In Joan's mind the name gleamed now like a fold of satin."
- "Oh there once was a swagman camped in the billabong, Under the shade of a coolibah tree, And he sang as he looked at the old billy boiling, 'Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda, with me.'"
- "1906, A. B. Paterson, On The Road to Gundagai, The Old Bush Songs, Gutenberg eBook #10493, In a week the spree was over and the cheque was all knocked down, / So we shouldered our “Matildas,” and we turned our backs on town, / And the girls they stood a nobbler as we sadly said “Good bye,” / And we tramped from Lazy Harry’s, not five miles from Gundagai;"
- "When a hobo roams through the outback with a matilda on his back, he is said to be “waltzing matilda.”"
Etymology
From Middle English Matilda, from Old French Mathilde, from Old High German Mahthilt, Mehthilt, from Proto-West Germanic *Mahtihild, from Proto-Germanic *Mahtihildiz; compare German Mechthild, Old English Mæþhild (“Matilda”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
- British usage
- Australian usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
Matilda I
Matilda II