Watson

English

Etymology

From Wat +‎ -son.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑtsən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒtsən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Wat‧son

Proper noun

Watson

1. A northern English and Scottish surname originating as a patronymic.
   • 1910 April 22, “Mark Twain is Dead at 74”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Albert Bigelow Paine, his biographer to be and literary executor, who has been constantly with him, said that for the last year at least Mr. Clemens had been weary of life. When Richard Watson Gilder died, he said: "How fortunate he is. No good fortune of that kind ever comes to me."

2. Any character who acts as a catalyst for the detective protagonist's mental processes in a mystery story; a consciousness that is privy to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions drawn from them until the proper time. After William L. DeAndrea, discussing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
3. A suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
4. A town in the Rural Municipality of Lakeside No. 338, Saskatchewan, Canada.
5. A number of places in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama.
   2. A minor city in Desha County, Arkansas.
   3. A village in Effingham County, Illinois.
   4. An unincorporated community in Clark County, Indiana.
   5. An unincorporated community in Clayton County, Iowa.
   6. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
   7. A minor city in Chippewa County, Minnesota.
   8. A village in Atchison County, Missouri.
   9. A town in Lewis County, New York.
   10. An unincorporated community in Seneca County, Ohio.
   11. An unincorporated community in McCurtain County, Oklahoma.
   12. An unincorporated community in Loudoun County, Virginia.
   13. An unincorporated community in Marion County, West Virginia.
   14. An electoral division in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Derived terms

• Watson syndrome

Descendants

• ⇒ Translingual: Watsonia

Translations

surname, place name

• Amharic: ዋትሰን (watsän)
• Arabic: واتسون
• Armenian: Ուոթսոն (Uotʻson)
• Bengali: ওয়াটসন (ōẇaṭośon)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 屈臣 (wat¹ san⁴)

  Mandarin: 沃森 (zh) (Wòsēn), 華森 / 华森 (Huásēn), 華生 / 华生 (Huáshēng)

• Georgian: უოტსონი (uoṭsoni)
• Greek: Γουάτσον (el) (Gouátson)
• Hebrew: ווטסון
• Hindi: वॉटसन (vŏṭsan)
• Japanese: ワトソン (Watoson)
• Kannada: ವ್ಯಾಟ್ಸನ್ (vyāṭsan)
• Khmer: វ៉ាត់សុន (vatson)
• Korean: 왓슨 (watseun)
• Malayalam: വാട്സൺ (vāṭsaṇ)
• Marathi: वॉटसन (vŏṭsan)
• Persian: واتسون
• Punjabi: ਵਾਟਸਨ (vāṭsan)
• Russian: Ватсон (ru) (Vatson)
• Tamil: வாட்சன் (vāṭcaṉ)
• Telugu: వాట్సన్ (vāṭsan)
• Thai: วัตสัน
• Ukrainian: Ватсон (Vatson)
• Urdu: واٹسن
• Yiddish: וואַצאָן (vatson)

See also

• Doctor Watson, fictional character in, and narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
• James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.
• Watt