William

American  

[wil-yuhm] / ˈwɪl yəm /

noun

1. Prince William Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge, born 1982, heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom (son of Charles III).

2. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter W.

3. a male given name: from Germanic words meaning “will” and “helmet.”

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William British  

/ ˈwɪljəm /

noun

1. known as William the Lion. ?1143–1214, king of Scotland (1165–1214)

2. Prince. born 1982, Duke of Cambridge, first son of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2011 he married Kate Middleton (born 1982); their son, Prince George, was born in 2013

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Example Sentences

If an editor long ago thought there wasn’t enough going on there, he was overlooking William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a fictional place with boundless stories.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

William Hamish Yeates, 19, is the first person to be charged under a new national law which criminalises the manipulation of sexual images and carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma said in a recent note to clients that both SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile will likely look to acquire more spectrum to add capacity to their networks, according to Barron’s.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

This wasn’t “an argument between genteel parties in Congress,” William Hogeland writes in his history, The Whiskey Rebellion, “but…a guerrilla war on the country’s ragged margin, our first war for the American soul.”

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

William Lee, about sixteen years old at the time of the auction, became George Washington’s valet, or personal servant.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis