Adrian

IPA/ˈeɪdɹiən/
KK[ˈedriən]IPA/ˈeɪdriːən/

Adrian — biographical name

1. the name used by six different popes of the Roman Catholic Church across history

1.biographical name
Definition

the name used by six different popes of the Roman Catholic Church across history; the best known is Adrian IV, who led the Church in the 1100s and was the only English pope.

Example

Six popes have taken the name Adrian, beginning in the eighth century in Rome.

proper noun: Adrian as papal name

Adrian IV remains the only English-born pope in the long history of the Church.

naming pattern: Adrian + Roman numeral

Common collocations
  • Pope Adrian IV
  • Adrian VI
  • the name Adrian
Synonyms
  • Hadrian

    older Latin spelling sometimes used for the same popes in historical texts

Usage Note

As a papal name, Adrian is always followed by a Roman numeral to show which pope is meant; older texts may use the Latin form 'Hadrian' for the same figures.

Common Mistakes

Pope Adrian 4 wrote to Henry II.
Pope Adrian IV wrote to Henry II.
papal names take a Roman numeral, not an Arabic one.

2. Edgar Douglas Adrian (1889–1977), a British scientist who studied how nerves car

2.biographical name
Definition

Edgar Douglas Adrian (1889–1977), a British scientist who studied how nerves carry signals in the human body; he shared the Nobel Prize in 1932 and later became the 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge.

Example

Adrian and Charles Sherrington shared the 1932 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on nerve cells.

proper noun: scientist's surname in academic context

In Cambridge in the 1920s, Adrian recorded the tiny electrical signals sent by single nerve fibers.

Common collocations
  • Edgar Adrian
  • Lord Adrian
  • Adrian's experiments
Synonyms
  • Lord Adrian

    British title used for the same person from 1955 onward

  • Edgar Adrian

    full personal name, used in biographies and history of science

Usage Note

When referring to the scientist, the surname Adrian usually appears alone in academic writing; use the full name 'Edgar Adrian' or the title 'Lord Adrian' when introducing him to a general audience.

Common Mistakes

Adrian invented the nervous system.
Adrian explained how the nervous system carries signals.
he studied and described it; he did not invent it.

Adrian — geographical name

Word family

  • Hadrian
    biographical name
  • Adriatic
    adjective

Synonym discussion

Sense: biographical name/1

Adrian and Hadrian are two English forms of the same Latin name, Hadrianus. In modern English, 'Adrian' is the common spelling for the six popes and for the British scientist Edgar Adrian, while 'Hadrian' is reserved almost only for the Roman emperor (76–138 AD) who built Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. The word 'Pope' is a title, not a name, so it goes in front of 'Adrian' to show the role: 'Pope Adrian IV' means the fourth pope who chose this name. In careful writing, keep the spellings apart: write about 'Pope Adrian VI' but 'Emperor Hadrian'.

Adrian ↗HadrianPope ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Pope Adrian
  • Adrian IV
  • Lord Adrian
  • Adrian, Michigan

Phrases

  • the name Adrian
  • Adrian of Cambridge

Etymology

LatinChristian LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishModern English

Adrian comes from the Latin name Hadrianus, meaning 'a person from Hadria', a town in northern Italy near the Adriatic Sea. The name was carried into English through Christian Latin, where it was used by several popes, and the spelling slowly lost its first 'H'. Today, English keeps 'Hadrian' for the Roman emperor and 'Adrian' for popes, modern people, and place names.