Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A female given name, in regular use since the 20th century, first in Scotland, then in England.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Goidelic fionn ("fair, white"). In use before 1713. Popularized by James Macpherson (see 1765 quotation), and perhaps by the 19th-century Scottish writer William Sharp, who chose “Fiona Macleod” as his pen name.

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Examples

  • Unwittingly, Austen created the template for most subsequent Regency fiction: As Ellen Pall, who writes under the name Fiona Hill, summarized the genre, "Regency romances are a sunny and compact genre in which a lady and a gentleman meet, form indifferent opinions of each other, banter for 200 pages or so, kiss and agree to marry."

    A Sweet Spot in Literary History Cynthia Crossen 2011

  • From then on, they would often meet illicitly if he went away on business trips, Liccy using the name Fiona Curzon when she checked into his hotel.

    Storyteller Donald Sturrock 2010

  • Although I have to say cute, buxom, redheaded, twinkly-eyed, barbarian-armor-clad ogre Fiona is teh hot.

    A short meditation on Cameron Diaz in a bikini 2010

  • Fiona is a good example: much as I love her, so far she's very one-note and static.

    mrissa: TV main characters: why do they suck so? mrissa 2010

  • Amber, now living in squalor with her mother, Fiona, is mixed up with members of a Latino gang.

    Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker: Book summary 2010

  • Lachrimae Bird, circus performer and chief elegy writer, is the only one to remember angels and she wonders why they have chosen to make their presence felt now in Fiona McFarlane's "Elegy Underground".

    Nov, 14th, 2008 - Issue 0.010 z0mbieastronaut 2008

  • Fiona is a consultant with John Stanley Associates, a wonderful Australian consulting firm that works to bring merchandising ideas from retail into libraries — not to sell merchandise but to sell users on the value of the library.

    NOISY CELL PHONES? SIGNS DON’T WORK Ms. OPL 2006

  • After some time, Fiona is admitted to Meadowlake, a nursing home that has the policy of not allowing visits during a patient’s first month there, so that they can settle in undisturbed.

    Alice Munro, Ray Bradbury and Terry Pratchett 2008

  • I won :)) I chose the name Fiona and my daughter - now 18 years old - is quite happy with that name.

    Updates and Giveaway This Week Bryce L. 2010

  • She called Fiona and asked if she was going and was surprised to hear that Fiona hadn’t even thought about it.

    Substitute Me Lori L. Tharps 2010

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