Hazlitt

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A prominent writer and philosopher known for his essays on literature, politics, and human nature during the Romantic era
2. An influential English commentator on art and society whose works examined both classical and contemporary cultural subjects with wit and insight
3. A celebrated author of personal essays and critical reviews whose distinctive voice shaped English literary criticism in the early 1800s

Etymology: Hazlitt is an English surname, best known from William Hazlitt, the essayist and critic who wrote on Shakespeare, painters, and the pleasures of everyday life. The name most likely comes from "hazel", the tree, with a diminutive ending, so it may have first described someone who lived near a hazel grove or was small. This is a plausible reading rather than a documented one.