Dryden

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The English poet, dramatist and critic John Dryden who lived from 1631 to 1700 and became Poet Laureate
2. A surname borne most famously by the seventeenth-century English poet and playwright John Dryden, a leading literary figure of his era
3. Refers to the Restoration-era English writer John Dryden, known for his satires, heroic couplets and influential literary criticism

Etymology: Dryden is a surname with a plain English origin: it comes from Old English "drȳġe", meaning "dry", combined with "denu", meaning "valley". The name therefore describes a dry valley, the kind of place where a stream ran only seasonally or not at all. Like many surnames of this type, it likely began as a place-name that a family took from the land where they lived, and later became a hereditary family name. The best-known bearer of the name is the English poet John Dryden, who held the post of Poet Laureate and dominated literary life during the Restoration period. His name is now used as a noun for any English poet of that era, so the surname has taken on a second life as a shorthand for a particular literary age.