Cecil

Meanings

1. 1proper nounproper

   A male first name, used especially in Britain and in older generations.

   Grammar: Names take no article: say Cecil is here, not the Cecil is here, unless you mean a particular famous bearer.

   Patterns

   • Cecil + verb
   • call someone Cecil
   • a man named Cecil

   My grandfather was called Cecil, and he hated the name.

   Cecil is coming to dinner on Sunday, so please set one more place.

   She named her son Cecil after her father, though everyone calls him Cece.

2. 2proper nounproper

   A short way of referring to a famous person or place whose full name includes Cecil, such as Cecil Rhodes or Cecil County.

   Grammar: Used this way it stands for a longer proper name that the listener is expected to know.

   Patterns

   • Cecil + full surname
   • the Cecil family

   The scholarship was set up by Cecil, the colonial businessman whose fortune paid for it.

   We drove through Cecil on the way to Baltimore.

   The Cecil family has owned the land for two hundred years.

Common combinations

named Cecil

They had a baby boy and named him Cecil.

called Cecil

The man at the desk was called Cecil and spoke very slowly.

Cecil County

Cecil County lies in the northeast corner of Maryland.

Cecil Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes gave his name to Rhodesia and to a scholarship at Oxford.

Uncle Cecil

Uncle Cecil always brought sweets when he visited.

Cecil Street

The office is on Cecil Street, just behind the station.

Commonly confused: Cecil or Cecile? Cecil or Cecil /ˈsesəl/ vs. /ˈsiːsəl/?

Practice

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