Bridgman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname borne by Percy Williams Bridgman, the American physicist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on high-pressure physics
2. The family name of Percy Williams Bridgman, an American scientist known for pioneering research into matter under extreme pressure
3. A surname associated with the American physicist Percy Williams Bridgman, recognized for his experiments on materials at high pressures

Etymology: Bridgman is an English surname, and its meaning is plain: it comes from Old English "brycg" ("bridge") and "man," so the first bearers were probably people who kept, repaired, or lived by a bridge. Surnames like this were often given to people by their work or location, and the spelling varies because medieval English had no standard form. "Bridgeman" is the older and more common spelling. The name is best known today through the American physicist Percy Williams Bridgman, who won the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the behaviour of matter under extremely high pressures. The crystal-growth method known as the Bridgman technique is named after him, and it is still used to produce certain single crystals.