Vanderbilt

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name associated with wealthy American industrialists of the 19th and 20th centuries, known for railroads, shipping, and philanthropy
2. The surname of a prominent dynasty of American business magnates who accumulated vast fortunes through transportation enterprises and made significant cultural contributions
3. A family name borne by influential American capitalists and patrons whose members built railroad and shipping empires and endowed major institutions

Etymology: Vanderbilt is a Dutch-derived surname that means "from De Bilt," the Netherlands town. The name is built from "van," meaning "from," "der," meaning "of the," and "Bilt," the place itself. Surnames formed this way tell you where a family came from rather than what they did or whose son they were. Because the name now belongs mainly to one well-known family, it is almost always written with a capital letter and treated as a proper noun. Its underlying meaning is still plain geography, a town name preceded by a preposition.