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Wil·liams

(wĭlyəmz), Daniel Hale 1856-1931.

American physician who in 1891 founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first hospital in the US with an interracial medical staff. In 1893, Williams performed one of the first recorded successful heart surgeries.

Williams, Elizabeth Known as "Betty." Born 1943.

Irish peace activist. She shared the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for work in Northern Ireland's peace movement.

Williams, (Hiram) Hank 1923-1953.

American singer and songwriter who greatly influenced the development of country and western music. His songs include "Cold, Cold Heart" (1951) and "Your Cheatin' Heart" (1953).

Williams, Venus Born 1980.

American tennis player who has won seven individual titles in Grand Slam competitions. As a team with her sister Serena Williams, the pair has won fourteen doubles titles in Grand Slam competitions.

Williams, William Carlos 1883-1963.

American poet whose verse is marked by a lucid, spare style and vivid observations of the everyday. His works include Collected Poems (1934) and Paterson (1946-1958).

Williams, Theodore Samuel Known as "Ted." 1918-2002.

American baseball player. Among the best hitters in the history of the game, he accrued 521 home runs and a .344 batting average as left fielder for the Boston Red Sox (1939-1960).

Williams, Tennessee Originally Thomas Lanier Williams. 1911-1983.

American playwright whose works often concern family tensions and sexual anxiety. They include A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), each of which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Williams, Serena Born 1981.

American tennis player who has won 23 individual titles in Grand Slam competitions. As a team with her sister Venus Williams, the pair has won 14 doubles titles in Grand Slam competitions.

(click for a larger image)

Serena and Venus Williams

photographed in 2009

Williams, Roger 1603?-1683.

English-born cleric. After being banished from Massachusetts for criticizing Puritanism, he founded Providence (1636), a community based on religious freedom and democratic ideals, and obtained a royal charter for Rhode Island (1663).

Williams, Eric 1911-1981.

Trinidadian politician and intellectual who led his country to independence from Britain and became its first prime minister (1962-1981). A noted historian, his works include Capitalism and Slavery (1944).

Williams, John Towner Born 1932.

American composer and conductor best known for his Academy Award-winning film scores, including Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977).

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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