A renowned Irish poet (1865–1939) and a key figure in 20th-century literature. The name combines a common given name, a family surname, and the surname of his wife’s family; the most prominent usage refers to the poet later known as W.B. Yeats. The phrase is used as a proper noun in literary and biographical contexts.
"- William Butler Yeats is celebrated for his evocative “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.”"
"- In the class on modern poetry, we studied William Butler Yeats’s early influences."
"- A biography emphasized William Butler Yeats’s role in the Irish Literary Revival."
"- The inscription honored William Butler Yeats on the commemorative plaque."
William is of Germanic origin, from Wilhelm/Willibrord, meaning “will/desire + helmet/protection.” Butler is a surname used as a middle name; Butler originates from Old French bodeillier (bottle bearer) or English surname from a position in a household, later a family name. Yeats derives from the Scots surname Mac Yeats, anglicized from Gaelic Ó hÉigtigheabháin, meaning “descendant of those who possessed a horse.” The combined usage William Butler Yeats became standard in English-speaking biographical references to the poet born in Dublin in 1865. Early usage often presented him as “William Butler Yeats” in formal publications, with “W.B. Yeats” becoming the familiar shorthand after his Nobel Prize in 1923; the full name preserves lineage and heraldic style common in Victorian/Edwardian naming conventions. The evolution reflects Irish literary circles’ preference for dignified, multi-part names to convey pedigree, education, and national identity. First known use of the exact full-form in print aligns with late 19th-century biographical catalogs, though informal references appeared earlier in correspondence and journals.
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Words that rhyme with "William Butler Yeats"
-ats sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Say WIL-lyum BUT-lər YATES, with primary stress on William and Yeats. IPA: US /ˈwɪl.jəm ˈbʌt.lər jiːts/; UK /ˈwɪl.jəm ˈbʌt.lə tyiːts/? (note: Yeats often rhymes with “beats,” so /jiːts/). For clarity: first syllable “Wil” as in “will,” second syllable “li” as in “little” but reduced; “Butler” as BUT-lər with stress on first syllable; “Yeats” as /jiːts/ rhyming with “beats.” Audio reference: listen to native speakers reading Yeats’s name in biographies or literary talks.
1) Slurring Butler to /ˈbʌt.lɚ/ with a weak second syllable; ensure the second syllable is clearly articulated. 2) Mispronouncing Yeats as /jaits/ or /jeɪts/; keep /jiːts/ with a long “ee” sound.
In US, you’ll hear /ˈwɪl.jəm ˈbʌt.lər jiːts/ with rhotic initial syllable. In UK, some speakers reduce the second syllable of Butler to /ˈbʌtə/ and may slightly flatten vowels; Yeats remains /jiːts/. In Australian, you’ll hear a clear /ˈwɪl.jəm/ and a clipped /ˈbɒtlə/ or /ˈbʌt.lə/ with a short a in Butler; Yeats remains /jiːts/.
Because the name contains multi-syllabic components with distinct vowel qualities and a back-to-front consonant sequence: the two-syllable Butler, the long i in Yeats, and the rhotic/non-rhotic differences across accents; together, this combination makes it easy to misplace stress or misrepresent the vowel lengths.
The surname Yeats ends with a long /iː/ followed by /ts/, which some learners soften to /t/ or /s/; keep the voiceless alveolar affricate at the end and make sure the preceding /iː/ is long and tense.
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