Edsel

A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Etzel.

Proper noun

  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Etzel.
  2. An automobile marque that was planned, manufactured, and launched with great advertising hype by the Ford Motor Company in September 1957, but was a notorious failure.

Origin

The automobile marque is named after Edsel Ford (1893–1943), son of Henry Ford. Compare German Etzel.

Noun

  1. Any unwanted product or commercial failure, especially one given much publicity.
    • Tom Paris: Harry… I think we built an Edsel. Harry Kim: A what? Tom Paris: A lemon. A disaster waiting to happen. - 1998, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Joe Menosky, “Timeless”, in Star Trek: Voyager, season 5, episode 6,...

    Synonyms: flop lead balloon lemon

Forms

Edsels