The commonest suffix in compound London place names is ‘ham’ (the origin of the word ‘home’), which used to mean a collection of dwellings – often a farm – as in Ickenham, Lewisham and Rainham.
What does the word HAM mean in place names?
homestead, village
The Old English ham which means variously “homestead, village, manor, estate” (Mills, p. 381) and hamm which means “enclosure, land hemmed by water or marsh or higher ground, land in a riverbend, rivermeadow, promontory” (Mills, p. 381) both appear as ham in modern names.
Why do English place names end in ham?
It comes from Old French hamelet, a diminutive form of hamel, which was itself a diminutive form of ham ‘village’. This was borrowed from a Germanic word related to English home, and to the -ham in many English place names.
Does HAM Mean Town?
That’s a French diminutive. And so ‘ham’ meant a village or a small town. ‘Hamlet’ meant an even smaller place. But that word comes into English after the Norman conquest.
What does the suffix Ham mean?
What does ‘ham’ mean? The suffix ‘ham’ could be taken from one of two words, ‘Ham’, the Saxon word meaning ‘settlement’, or ‘hamm’, meaning ‘water meadow’. A can also be an earthly feature roughly similar to a headland surrounded on three sides, usually by marsh.
What does ham mean in London?
Ham is a suburban district in Richmond, south-west London.
What does ham mean on end of village name?
home
The commonest suffix in compound London place names is ‘ham’ (the origin of the word ‘home’), which used to mean a collection of dwellings – often a farm – as in Ickenham, Lewisham and Rainham.
What does Wick mean in a town name?
Suffix Wich or Wick From Anglo-Saxon Wic. The suffix wich or wick in many of the place-names including Greenwich , Warwick , etc ., comes from the Anglo-Saxon wic meaning a village ; this in turn , states a writer in the Detroit News , is apparently an adaptation of the Latin vicus for village .
What does Ton mean in a town name?
settlement
Ton: This word ending, that remains very familiar today, was used to describe a settlement. A name ending in ton refers to a farmstead or village.
What does the ham mean in Birmingham?
The name Birmingham is derived from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon “Beormund ingas ham.” ‘Beormund’ is a proper name, ‘ingas’ means ‘people,’ and ‘ham’ means ‘farm/homestead. ‘ So, “the farm of Beormund’s people” is a reasonable gloss.
Is Birmingham called the ham?
The most common “ham” suffix city names on the list are Birmingham (3), Durham (3), and Pelham (3).
Why do so many Massachusetts towns end in ham?
ham: There are many communities that end in the three letters “ham” derived from Old English – ham meaning “home” or “homestead.” However, depending on where you live, their pronunciation either uses or holds the ham.
What places are named after the Vikings?
In England Viking place names are of course most common in the area known as the Danelaw, the areas where Danish law applied in Northern and Eastern England, the shires of Yorkshire, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford, Lincoln and Essex.
Why do towns in England end in shire?
“Shire” is just the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the old French word “county”, so Yorkshire, for example, means “County of York”. A couple of them you have to manipulate a bit, presumably because Lancastershire and Chestershire were a bit of a mouthful; but it’s still fairly obvious where the name came from.
Why do places end in shire?
Shires in the United Kingdom. “Shire” also refers, in a narrower sense, to ancient counties with names that ended in “shire”. These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town. The suffix -shire is attached to most of the names of English, Scottish and Welsh counties.
Is a shire the same as a county?
is that county is (historical) the land ruled by a count or a countess while shire is former administrative area of britain; a county.
Does ham mean hamlet?
This ham was borrowed from a Germanic language, possibly Old English ham “home, homestead, estate”. However, French changed the meaning of ham to “village without a church”, hence hamlet.
What does Thorpe mean in place names?
A thorpe was an outlying farmstead, one that probably relied on a larger settlement nearby for protection. Thwaite comes from the Norse thveit, meaning a clearing or meadow. By far the most common is -by which means farmstead or village.
What does the ham in Hamburg mean?
While named after Hamburg, Germany and not pork, both meat and city means “back of the knee“: literally on a pig and figuratively for a bend in the river where a borg (fort) was built. Other theories exist, but this is my favorite. Source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/hamburg.
What does wich in Norwich mean?
A “-wich town” is a settlement in Anglo-Saxon England characterised by extensive artisanal activity and trade – an “emporium”. The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon suffix -wīc, signifying “a dwelling or fortified place“.
What Anglo-Saxon place names still exist?
We can spot many other Anglo-Saxon words in modern day place names in Britain today. Examples include: “Leigh” or “Ley” – meaning a forest clearing – Henley, Morley, Chorley. “Bury” – meaning a fortified place – Bury, Shaftesbury, Newbury.
