Eric
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A fine paid as compensation for violent crimes. historical
"The court-poets of Wales […] could demand an eric of ‘nine cows, and nine-score pence of money besides’."
- 2 Acronym of everybody reading in class (“a session in which pupils read books”). abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
- 1 A male given name from the Germanic languages.
""What's your name?" "Eric - I mean Williams." "Then why don't you say what you mean?""
- 2 Acronym of Education Resources Information Center. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 3 Acronym of European Research Infrastructure Consortium. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 4 Acronym of Electronic Registration Information Center. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
"ERIC was formed to help states maintain accurate voter rolls and spot illegal voting. But instances of duplicate voting and out-of-state or out-of-precinct voting continue despite ERIC’s involvement. ERIC has failed at its stated mission of maintaining voter rolls because its true mission is to increase voter registration. Fortunately, a growing number of states are leaving ERIC, and more should follow."
Example
More examples"Eric played a sweet tune on the piano."
Etymology
From Irish éiric.
From Middle English Eric, from Old English Eoric, from Old Norse Eirríkr, Eiríkr (from ei (“always, eternal”, see aye) + ríkr (“ruler”)), or from Proto-Germanic *Aizarīkijaz (from *aizō (“honor”) + *rīkijaz (“ruler”)). Less likely from einn (“sole, alone”) + ríkr (“ruler”), from Proto-Germanic *rīks (“king”, cognate to Latin rēx and Gaulish *rīx). The name was in use in Anglo-Saxon Britain, reinforced by Scandinavian settlers before the Norman Conquest. Compare Danish Erik, German Erich. Possible doublet of Euric.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.