MARTIN

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Martin mean? 

• MARTIN (noun)
  The noun MARTIN has 5 senses:

1. French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)

2. United States actor and comedian (born in 1945)

3. United States actress (1913-1990)

4. United States singer (1917-1995)

5. any of various swallows with squarish or slightly forked tail and long pointed wings; migrate around Martinmas

  Familiarity information: MARTIN used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MARTIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Martin; St. Martin

Instance hypernyms:

bishop (a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ)

saint (a person who has died and has been declared a saint by canonization)

Sense 2

Meaning:

United States actor and comedian (born in 1945)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Martin; Steve Martin

Instance hypernyms:

actor; histrion; player; role player; thespian (a theatrical performer)

comedian; comic (a professional performer who tells jokes and performs comical acts)

Sense 3

Meaning:

United States actress (1913-1990)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Martin; Mary Martin

Instance hypernyms:

actress (a female actor)

Sense 4

Meaning:

United States singer (1917-1995)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Dean Martin; Dino Paul Crocetti; Martin

Instance hypernyms:

singer; vocaliser; vocalist; vocalizer (a person who sings)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Any of various swallows with squarish or slightly forked tail and long pointed wings; migrate around Martinmas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("martin" is a kind of...):

swallow (small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "martin"):

Delichon urbica; house martin (common small European martin that builds nests under the eaves of houses)

bank martin; bank swallow; Riparia riparia; sand martin (swallow of the northern hemisphere that nests in tunnels dug in clay or sand banks)

Progne subis; purple martin (large North American martin of which the male is blue-black)

 Context examples 

It's the old martin house, but I've stopped up the door and made the roof open, so it will hold all sorts of things, and save our valuable time.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

My shortest way home,—and I naturally took the shortest way on such a night—was through St. Martin's Lane.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I rather think, Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this room can teach us.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Martin Eden came back to earth.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I could not have visited Mrs. Robert Martin, of Abbey-Mill Farm.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“Enough, enough, Don Martin,” cried the prince.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By the way, I take the chair at a supper of the Fancy at the Waggon and Horses in St. Martin’s Lane next Friday.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The captain, the two mates, two warders, Lieutenant Martin, his eighteen soldiers, and the doctor were all that we had against us.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

NASA partnered with lead contractor, Lockheed Martin, in February 2016 for the QueSST preliminary design.

(NASA Completes Milestone Toward Quieter Supersonic X-Plane, NASA)

It's like a pipeline going straight in, says California Institute of Technology professor of physics Christopher Martin, who is lead author of a new paper.

(Spiraling filaments feed young galaxies, National Science Foundation’s Division of Astronomical Sciences.)