Lewis

Lewis

See also: lewis

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːɪs/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːɪs
• Hyphenation: Lew‧is
• Homophone: Lewes

Etymology 1

From Middle English Lewis, Lowis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French Louis, from Frankish *Hlūdawīg.

Proper noun

Lewis (plural Lewises)

1. A male given name from Frankish
2. A surname.
   1. An English surname originating as a patronymic.
   2. A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic], an anglicization of Lobhaois, itself from Old French Louis.
   3. A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic], an adopted anglicization of Llywelyn.
3. The title given to a partially apprenticed Freemason who is normally the Master or Son of a practicing Freemason; one practising or learning the degrees of Freemasonry after introduction to the degrees and before full induction or before becoming a Worshipful Brother.

Quotations

• c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii]:

  And tell false Edward, thy supposed king,
  That Lewis of France is sending over masquers,
  To revel it with him and his new bride.

• 1994, Joseph Heller, Closing Time, →ISBN, page 42:

  They named me Lewis and called me Louie as though my name was Louis, and I never saw the difference until Sammy pointed it out. And even then, I still don't see much difference.

Translations

male given name — see Louis

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Lewis is the 29th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 531,781 individuals. Lewis is most common among White (58.2%) and Black/African American (34.8%) individuals.

Etymology 2

Derived from Scottish Gaelic Leòdhas, of uncertain origin; traditionally referred to Old Norse Ljóðahús, from ljóð (“song, poem”) + hús (“house”); but may be related to the Pictish name of the island recorded in Ptolemy's Geography as Λίμνου (Límnou).

Proper noun

Lewis

1. Ellipsis of Isle of Lewis; an island in Scotland, United Kingdom.

Related terms

• Lewis and Harris

Translations

Isle of Lewis

Irish: Leódhas m, Leòdhas m Manx: Lioas Russian: Лью́ис (ru) m (Lʹjúis) Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas

See also

• Isle of Lewis

Etymology 3

From namesake.

Proper noun

Lewis

1. A locale in the United States:
   1. A census-designated place in Montezuma County, Colorado.
   2. An unincorporatedcommunity in Vigo County, Indiana.
   3. A minor city in Cass County, Iowa.
   4. A minor city in Edwards County, Kansas; named for journalist M. M. Lewis.
   5. An unincorporatedcommunity in Henry County, Missouri; named for landowner Howell Lewis.
   6. A town in Essex County, New York; named for Morgan Lewis, 3rd Governor of New York.
   7. A town in Lewis County, New York; named for its county, itself for Morgan Lewis.
   8. An unincorporatedcommunity in Granville County, North Carolina.
   9. A town in Essex County, Vermont; named for landowners Nathan, Sevignior and Timothy Lewis.
   10. A census-designated place in Clam Falls, Polk County, Wisconsin; named for founder Charles E. Lewis.
   11. A ghost town in California.

Derived terms

• Holstein-Lewis fracture
• Lewis acid
• Lewis and Clark County
• Lewis base
• Lewis County
• Lewisian
• Lewis's trilemma
• Lewiston
• Lewistown
• Lewisville

 

Anagrams

• Liews, Weils, Wiles, lweis, wesil, wiles