Gladstone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. William Ewart, the Victorian Liberal statesman who served as British prime minister four times ; a rigid, hinged travelling bag with two compartments ; a port city on the coast of Queensland, Australia
2. The Victorian Liberal leader who was four times British prime minister ; a hinged leather suitcase divided into two compartments that opens flat ; a coastal port town in the Australian state of Queensland
3. A four-time British prime minister from the Victorian Liberal party ; a stiff travelling case with two hinged halves used for carrying clothes ; a harbour city in central-eastern Queensland on the Australian coast

Etymology: The name "Gladstone" comes from two Old English elements: "glæd," meaning "shining," and "stān," meaning "stone." It is an old surname-style place name, and its meaning is about as literal as a name can be. The family name spread through Britain in this form, and it was attached to a Victorian statesman who was four times British prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone, whose fame lent the name to a leather bag that opens flat into two compartments, and to a port town in Queensland, Australia. The bag is the sense most people meet without realising it came from a politician. Its name follows the statesman rather than any link to him in particular, so the object is named for a family name's fame, not for anything he designed. The port town, by contrast, is named after the British leader in the same way many colonial places were named for politicians.