Dickinson

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A surname, most famously borne by Emily Dickinson, the nineteenth-century American poet known for her short, unconventional verse
2. The family name of Emily Dickinson, the reclusive American poet whose compact, innovative poems were published largely after her death
3. Refers to the American poet Emily Dickinson, a New England writer celebrated for her distinctive dashes and unusual lyric style

Etymology: "Dickinson" is a patronymic surname: "son of Dickin," where "Dickin" is a medieval English diminutive of "Richard," and "-son" is the Old English-derived suffix meaning "son of." English surnames built this way were common across the country, so the name's roots lie in the ordinary practice of naming a family after a father. Its fame, of course, belongs to one bearer: Emily Dickinson, the American poet who wrote close to 1,800 poems, most of which were published only after her death. Because the name is now tied so firmly to her, it is used as an adjective to describe things in her manner, such as "a Dickinson dash" or Dickinsonian compression of thought, though that usage is an extension of the surname rather than a separate word with its own history.