Lawrence

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɒ.ɹəns/
• Rhymes: -ɒ.ɹəns
• Rhymes: -əns

Proper noun

Lawrence

1. A male given name from Latin, the usual spelling of Laurence in the U.S.
   • 2003 Elise Title, Inside Out: A Mystery, St.Martin's Minotaur 2003, →ISBN, page 69

     "I named him Lawrence. After my father. Pete, that's my husband, he never really liked the name Lawrence. He thought it wasn't very..." she shut her eyes for a moment, shaking her head slowly, "...very masculine." She opened her eyes and smiled ruefully. " That's a good one, isn't it?"

2. A patronymic surname transferred from the given name
   • 2007 John Dunning, The Bookworm's Last Fling, Simon & Schuster 2007, →ISBN, page 321

     "My name is Richard Lawrence."

     Candice thought he had a storybook name. Like Lawrence of Arabia, she said, but what she always called him was Ricky. Just a jump away from Tricky Dicky.

3. A city, the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States.
4. A city in Massachusetts, United States, which is one of the two county seats of Essex County.
5. A haze caused by heat; named after a third-century Christian killed by Emperor Valerian by being burned.

Derived terms

• Saint Lawrence River, St. Lawrence River
• St. Lawrence County

Translations

male given name — see Laurence