Baylis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An English family name carried by several notable people, including a twentieth-century inventor of the wind-up radio and a theatre manager
2. A surname of English origin shared by various well-known figures, among them an inventor of a clockwork radio and a theatre administrator
3. A family name common in England, borne by prominent individuals such as a wind-up radio inventor and a London theatre director

Etymology: Baylis is mainly met as a surname, and it is a patronymic meaning "son of the bailiff." It is a variant of Bayliss and shares its root with Bailey. Medieval England often identified people by their fathers' occupations, so a family name could record a job held a generation earlier. The bailiff's title goes back to Late Latin "bajulus," meaning a porter or carrier. Through Old French "bailli," it came to mean a steward who acted on a lord's behalf, so a term for someone who carried burdens grew into one for an official who carried responsibility. The surname's best-known bearer is Lilian Baylis, who ran the Old Vic theatre in London and helped make it a home for Shakespeare and opera.