Otis
/ˈoʊtɪs/ name
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the given name, notably of the American revolutionary hero James Otis and the innovator and industrialist Elisha Otis.
- 2 A male given name from the Germanic languages, transferred from the surname. US
"[…] in a world of mandatory diminutives, a corporation of jolly Bills and Jacks and Herbs and Teds in which an unabbreviable given name like Earl must have been a minor handicap, "Oat" was the best that could be done for a man with the given name of Otis."
- 3 An Otis elevator.
Example
More examples"When Mr. Hiram B. Otis bought Canterville Chase, every one told him he was doing a very foolish thing, as there was no doubt at all that the place was haunted."
Etymology
A patronymic surname derived from Middle English genitive case of the Germanic given name Ote, Ode, cognate to modern Otto.