Definition

1. Proper noun:
   • United States inventor: William Seward Burroughs was an American inventor best known for patenting the first commercially successful adding machine in 1888. His work significantly advanced business calculation technology.
   • United States writer: William Seward Burroughs was an influential American novelist and essayist, a primary figure of the Beat Generation. His work is noted for its experimental style and themes exploring addiction, control, and consciousness.

Usage Examples

• Referring to the inventor:

  • The accounting office upgraded to a machine based on the design of William Seward Burroughs.
  • William Seward Burroughs founded the American Arithmometer Company, which later became Burroughs Corporation.

• Referring to the writer:

  • We studied the cut-up technique pioneered by William Seward Burroughs in our literature class.
  • The novel "Naked Lunch" by William Seward Burroughs was controversial for its graphic content.

Advanced Usage

• Historical distinction: To avoid confusion between the two individuals, the inventor is sometimes specified as William Seward Burroughs I, and the writer, his grandson, as William S. Burroughs or William S. Burroughs Jr. (though the writer was actually the inventor's grandson).
  • The technological legacy of William Seward Burroughs I contrasted sharply with the literary rebellion of his grandson.

Variants and Related Words

• Burroughs (noun): Often used alone to refer to the writer in literary contexts, or to the corporation founded by the inventor.
  • Burroughs was a key voice of the postwar counterculture. (Refers to the writer)
  • The company merged with Sperry to form Unisys. (Refers to Burroughs Corporation)

Synonyms

• For the inventor: Inventor, entrepreneur, business machine pioneer.
• For the writer: Author, novelist, Beat Generation writer, avant-garde writer.

Related Phrases

• The Burroughs adding machine: The specific invention patented by William Seward Burroughs.

  • The Burroughs adding machine revolutionized bookkeeping.

• Burroughsian (adjective): Pertaining to the style or themes of the writer William S. Burroughs.

  • The film has a distinctly Burroughsian atmosphere of paranoia and fragmentation.

Noun

1. United States inventor who patented the first practical adding machine (1855-1898)
2. United States writer noted for his works portraying the life of drug addicts (1914-1997)