Meaning and Origin
What does the name Hamlet mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Hamlet
User Submitted Origins
English
83%
Greek
17%
User Submitted Meanings
- A user from Armenia says the name Hamlet means "Home".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Ham"let
A small village; a little cluster of houses in the country.
Etymology: OE. hamelet, OF. hamelet, dim. of hamel, F. hameau, LL. hamellum, a dim. of German origin; cf. G. heim home. √220. See Home
Other Dictionary Sources
- A community of people smaller than a village
- A settlement smaller than a town
- The hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy who hoped to avenge the murder of his father
Wiktionary
From Latin Amlethus, as written by 13th-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, and borrowed into English by way of François de Belleforest's French Hamlet, originally rendered as Hamblet in English. Ultimately from Old Danish Amlethæ, corresponding to Old Norse Amlóði (“fool”), claimed to be suggestive of the way that Hamlet acts in the play.
- The eponymous main character of William Shakespeare's play, whose father's ghost, murdered by Hamlet's uncle, exhorts him to seek revenge.
Hamlet was also found in the following language(s): Portuguese and Spanish