Dennett

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname, most famously borne by Daniel Dennett, the American philosopher who wrote on consciousness and the mind
2. The family name of Daniel Clement Dennett, an American thinker known for work on consciousness, evolution and free will
3. A surname associated with the American philosopher Daniel Clement Dennett, a prominent writer on the philosophy of mind

Etymology: The surname most likely comes from the medieval given name Dennis, which descends from Greek "Dionysios," the name of the god of wine. English diminutive endings such as "-ett" (as in Bartlett or Jowett) were attached to given names to form family names, so "Dennett" probably began as a form meaning something like "little Dennis" or "son of little Dennis." Dennis itself passed into English through Old French "Denis" from Latin "Dionysius," which is why the name carries the wine god's name through several languages. The surname is English and was carried by many families long before the philosopher Daniel Dennett (born 1942) made it known in academic circles. Its spelling varied in early records, and the exact family origin of his line is not something I can trace with confidence, so the diminutive explanation above is the most probable reading rather than a documented fact about his ancestors.