Richard

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.əd/

  • Audio (UK):

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  • Audio (UK):

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.ɚd/

  • Audio (US):

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From Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus and Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) +‎ *harduz (“hard, brave”). Cognate with Old High German Rīcohard (“Richard”). A hypothetical Old English equivalent *Rī‌ċheard would also yield an identical "Richard" in Modern English, though it is unknown if the Old English equivalent existed.

Richard (plural Richards)

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     What! do I fear myself? there's no one else by; / Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.

   • 1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed: The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 212:

     But we have known Williams and Richards, names not found in sacred story, but familiar to our country, prove as gracious saints as any Safe deliverance, Fight the good fight of faith, or such like,

   • 1985, William Wharton, Pride, →ISBN, page 97:

     I'd love to live in our castle. First I'd change my name from Dickie to Richard. That's my real name and it's a good king name. I don't like being called Dickie anyway, and I don't want to be Dick Junior either because everybody starts calling you Junior. What I'd like to be called is Rich but I don't know how to start people doing it.

   • 2009 September, Eldon Chéze, JEFFREY LIONEL DAHMER: A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 December 2025, page 121:

     Two months later, on March 24, 1988, Jeffrey met Richard Guerrero in the doorway of the Phoenix Bar (Davis, 1995; Masters, 1993).

   • 2023 May 24, Sandee LaMotte, “Can a daily multivitamin slow cognitive aging? Maybe”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     While the less-than-a-word improvement was statistically significant, it would be hard to tell if such a small change would improve a person’s life, said Alzheimer’s disease researcher Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases of Florida.

2. (rare compared to given name) A surname originating as a patronymic.

   Martin Richard was the youngest of three people killed by explosions at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

• King Richard
• Preston Richard
• Richard's Castle

Clipping of Richard III (Richard the Third).

Richard (plural Richards)

1. (Cockney rhyming slang, mildly vulgar) A turd.

From English Richard, from Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus and Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) +‎ *harduz (“hard, brave”).

Richard

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Germanic languages]
   • 2010 — Maningo, Alcea, Ang Nitugpa sa Atop (04 November), Sugilanon, Kalingawan, Banat News

     Daw may usa ka bloke nga hollowblock nga nahulog gikan sa panganod ug nitugpa sa sin nga atop sa tindahan. Nakurat ang lima ka mga estambay sa tindahan. Daling nanindog sila si Alex Tudtud, Richard Dagoc, Jomar Suprema, Romeo Brusas ug Jerome Bertes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2011 April 4, Tubilan, Joseph Elvir C, “Way Nakakita”, in SuperBalita Cebu:

     Si Richard Ian Bruce Bansuan, testigo sa Task Force Ella Joy, nihisgot sa korte kagahapon sa gihimong husay sa motion to quash search warrant nga nakit-an niya ang langyaw dihang nagmaneho siya sa motorsiklo kuyog si Ligaya Escultos.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2012 — Suarez, Lloyd, Pamutos na Lang, Warden Manansala (13 June), Super Hirit, Cebu Daily News

     Pagkabakakon gyud ni Richard Cabornay Baculi kinsa maoy nagmaneho sa motorsiklo nga “Yamaha Meo” nga maoy ilang gisakyan uban sa iyang ig-agaw nga napatay ni PO2 Lea Juarez nga si Rael Alex Tajanlangit Cabornay alias “Nano” gikan nga mitulis ni Reychel Alvizo Juntar.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

From English Richard, which resembles the pronunciation of 碌柒 (luk¹ cat⁶, “dickhead; idiot”). Probably popularised by The God of Cookery (quoted below).

Richard

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, minced oath, euphemistic) synonym of 碌柒
   • 1996, 食神 [The God of Cookery], spoken by 史提芬周 [Stephen Chow] (周星馳 [Stephen Chow]):

     咦，Richard好Richard喎！受過高等教育定啦！ [Cantonese, trad.]
     咦，Richard好Richard㖞！受过高等教育定啦！ [Cantonese, simp.]

     ji², wit¹ cat⁴ hou² wit¹ cat⁴ wo³! sau⁶ gwo³ gou¹ dang² gaau³ juk⁶ ding^6-2 laa³! [Jyutping]

     Hey Dick, you look like a dick! You must have received higher education!

• (Czech Republic) IPA^(key): [ˈrɪxart]

Richard m anim

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Richard

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Richard

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

• IPA^(key): /ʁi.ʃaʁ/

• Audio:

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• Audio; “chapelle Saint-Sixte de Puy-Richard”:

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Richard m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard
2. a surname originating as a patronymic

• (Germany) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɪçaɐ̯t/
• (Austria, Switzerland) IPA^(key): /ˈrɪçart/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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Richard

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Borrowed from German Richard.

• IPA^(key): /ˈri.xart/
• Rhymes: -ixart
• Syllabification: Ri‧chard

Richard m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

• Jan Trepczyk (1994), “Ryszard”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “Ryszard”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[3]

Richard

1. a male given name, the usual modern form of Rikard

Richard m (Limousin)

1. a male given name

• Yves Lavalade (2010), Dictionnaire d'usage occitan/français - Limousin, Marche, Périgord (in French), Institut d'Estudis Occitans dau Lemosin, →ISBN; page 496

• IPA^(key): /ˈrixart/

Richard m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

• “Richard”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Unadapted borrowing from English Richard. Doublet of Ricardo.

• IPA^(key): /ˈrit͡ʃaɾd/ [ˈri.t͡ʃaɾð̞]
  • Rhymes: -itʃaɾd
• IPA^(key): /ɹɪt͡ʃɚd/ [ɹɪt͡ʃɚð̞]
• Syllabification: Ri‧chard

Richard m

1. a male given name from English

• Audio:

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Richard c (genitive Richards)

1. a male given name, an English and French type variant of Rikard

• [4] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 17 105 males with the given name Richard (compared to 10 124 named Rikard and 22 341 named Rickard) living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.