Wriothesley

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname borne by an English noble family, most famously the Earls of Southampton and their patron of Shakespeare
2. The family name of a line of English earls, best known through Henry, third Earl of Southampton, a literary patron
3. A distinguished English aristocratic surname, associated especially with the Earls of Southampton of the Tudor and Stuart era

Etymology: Wriothesley is a surname with a long history in England, borne by the Earls of Southampton. Its origin lies in a place name: the family took it from Writhlington in Somerset, a village whose name is recorded in medieval documents in forms like "Writhelington." The surname is best known today through Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, the young patron of Shakespeare who received the dedications of "Venus and Adonis" (1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece" (1594). The name's spelling has shifted considerably over the centuries. Early bearers wrote it in many variants, and the pronunciation that survives in the family tradition, "RIZ-lee," departs sharply from how the letters look. The silent "w" and the vowel changes reflect centuries of spoken usage that outpaced the spelling.