Colin

See also: colin, colîn, and çolin

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): Collen, Collin

Etymology

Diminutive of Coll, a medieval short form of Nicholas. It has also been used to anglicize Irish Coileán and Scottish Gaelic Cailean.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒlɪn/, /ˈkəʊlɪn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑlɪn/, /ˈkoʊlɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɒlɪn

Proper noun

Colin (plural Colins)

1. A male given name from Ancient Greek
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 16:

     That iolly shepheard, which there piped, was / Poore Colin Clout (who knowes not Colin Clout?)

   • 1992, Howard B. Means, Colin Powell, Donald J. Fine, published 1992, →ISBN, page 49:

     "My parents," Powell wrote, "were British subjects, and they named me Colin (KAH-lin). Being British, they knew very well how the name was supposed to be pronounced. But when I was a young boy, there was a famous American World War II hero whose name became very popular in the streets of New York City. He was Capt. Colin P. Kelly Jr. He was called KOH-lin. My friends in the streets of the South Bronx, who heard Captain Kelly's name pronounced in the radio and by their parents and other adults, began to refer to me by the same pronunciation.

2. A rather rare surname originating as a patronymic, variant of Collin.

Usage notes

• Popular given name in the U.K. in the mid-twentieth century.

Related terms

surnames

• Collins
• Collinson
• Collis
• Collison

 

Anagrams

• LOINC, Licon, Nicol, clino-, locin

French

Etymology

From a medieval diminutive of Nicolas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.lɛ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Colin m

1. a rare male given name
2. a common surname originating as a patronymic