Chapter III: Introduction (2)

These and similar words, in the Romance languages, derived from the Heb. _abba_ (father), were introduced into the languages of Europe in connection with the monastic system, and are attached to the names of places founded for monks, or belonging to church lands. Thus--Absberg (abbot’s hill); Apersdorf, for _Abbatesdorf_ (abbot’s village); Absholz (abbot’s wood); Abtsroda (abbot’s clearing), in Germany; Appenzell, anc. _Abbatiscella_ (abbot’s church), founded by the Abbot of St. Gall, A.D. 647; Abbeville (abbot’s dwelling), in France; Abbotsbury (the abbot’s fortified place), Dorset; Abbeydare (the abbey on the R. Dare in Hereford); Abbotshall, in Fife, so called from having been the occasional residence of the abbots of Dunfermline; Abdie (belonging to the abbey of Lindores); Abingdon, in Berks (abbot’s hill), Abington (with the same meaning), the name of two parishes in Cambridge and a village in Lanarkshire, and of two parishes in Ireland; Abbotsford (the ford of the Tweed in the abbey lands of Melrose); Abbotsrule (the abbey on the R. Rule in Roxburghshire); Abbeyfeale (on the R. Feale); Abbeyleix (the abbey of Lewy), an Irish chief Abbeygormacan (Irish _mainister_); _Ua-g Cormacain_ (the abbey of the O’Cormacans); Abbeylara, _i.e._ Irish abbey, _leath-rath_ (the abbey of the half-rath); Abbeyshrule, anc. _Sruthair_ (the stream), named for a monastery founded by one of the O’Farells; Abbeystrowry (with the same meaning), in Ireland; Abbensee (the lake of the abbey), in Upper Austria; Newabbey, a _Par_ in Kirkcudbright (named from an abbey founded in 1275 by Devorgilla, the mother of John Baliol); Badia-San-Salvatore (the abbey of the Holy Saviour); Badia-Torrita (the abbey with the little tower), in Italy; Appin, in Argyleshire, anc. _Abbphon_ (abbot’s land), and Appin, in Dull, indicating probably the territory of a Celtic monastery.

[Sidenote: ACH, or ICH,]

a form of the Teut. _aha_ (water), p. 1, as in Salzach (salt stream), but it is also a common affix to words in the Teut. and Cel. languages, by which a noun is formed into an adjective, signifying full of, or abounding in, equivalent to the Lat. terminations _etum_ and _iacum_. Thus, in German topography, we find Lindach, Aichach, Aschach, Buchach, Tannich, Fichtig, _i.e._ abounding in _lime_, _oak_, _ash_, _beech_, _fir_, and _pine_ wood; Affaltrach (in apple-trees); Erlicht (in alders); Heselicht (in hazels); Laubach (in leaves). In Ireland: Darach, Farnach (abounding in oaks and alders); Ounagh, in Sligo, and Onagh, in Wicklow (watery place), from the adjective Abhnach (abounding in streams). In the Sclav. languages, again, the affix _zig_ has the same meaning, as in Leipzig (abounding in lime-trees).

[Sidenote: ACHADH (Gadhelic), AUCH, AUGH, AUCHEN,]

a field, plain, or meadow; _e.g._ Aghinver (the field of the confluence); Aghindarragh (of the oak wood); Achonry, anc. _Achadh-Chonaire_ (Conary’s field); Ardagh (high field); Aghabeg (little field); Aghaboy (yellow field); Aghamore (great field); Aghaboe (the cow’s field); Aghadown (of the fort); Aghadoe, _i.e._ _Achadh-da-eo_ (of the two yew-trees). In Scotland: Auchclach, Auchinleck, Auchnacloich (the stony field); Achray (smooth field); Auchinleith (the physician’s field); Auchindoire (the field of the oak grove); Auchinfad (of the peats); Auchinrath (of the fort); Auchincruive (of the tree, _craoibhe_); Auchline (of the pool); Auchnacraig (of the rock); Auchindinny and Auchteany (the field of the fire)--_teine_, _i.e._ probably places where the Beltane fires were kindled.

[Sidenote: AESC (A.S.), ASK (Scand.), ESCHE (Ger.),]

the ash-tree; _e.g._ Ashton, Ashby, Askham (ash-tree dwelling); Ashrigg (the ash-tree ridge), in England. In Germany: Eschdorf, Eschweil, Eschweiller (ash-tree dwelling); Eschenbach (ash-tree brook); Eschwege (ash-tree road).

[Sidenote: AESP (A.S.), ASP (Scand.),]

the aspen or poplar; _e.g._ Aspley, Aspden (poplar field or valley).

[Sidenote: AIN (Semitic), AAYN,]

a fountain; _e.g._ Aenon (the fountains); Enshemish (the fountain of the sun); Engedi (of the goat); Enrogel (of the fuller’s field); Dothan (the two fountains); Aayn-el-kebira (the great fountain); Ain-halu (the sweet fountain); Aayn-taiba (the good fountain); Engannim (the fountain of the gardens); Enrimmon (of the pomegranates).

[Sidenote: AITE, or AIT (Gadhelic), AEHT, or EIGEN (Teut.),]

a place, a possession; _e.g._ Daviot, anc. _Damh-aite_ (the place of the ox), in Aberdeenshire, and also in Inverness; Tynet, _i.e._ _ait-an-taimhu_ (the place of the river), in Banffshire. In Ireland the word is used in combination with _tigh_ (a house); _e.g._ Atty (the dwelling-place); Atty-Dermot (the dwelling of Dermot); Atti-duff (the dark dwelling); Oedt (the possession), a town in Prussia, on the Niers; Iberstolfs-eigen (the possession of Iberstolf); Iberstolfs-eigen, Smurses-eigen (_i.e._ the possession of Iberstolf and Smurse); Souder-eygen (south possession).

[Sidenote: AITH, or AED, or EID (Scand.),]

a headland; _e.g._ Aithsvoe (the bay of the headland); Aithsthing (the place of meeting on the headland); Eidfoss (the waterfall on the headland).

[Sidenote: AK, or AEK (A.S.), EK, or EG (Scand.), EYKE (Dutch), EICHE (Ger.),]

an oak; _e.g._ Acton, Acworth (oak town and manor); Oakley (oak meadow); Oakham (oak dwelling); Auckland (oakland); Acrise (oak ascent); Wokingham or Oakingham (the dwelling among oaks); Sevenoaks, anc. _Seovanacca_, named from some oak-trees which once occupied the eminence on which it stands, but Okehampton, in Devon, is on the R. Oke. In Germany and in Holland are Eichstadt, Eichdorf, Eikheim (oak dwelling); Ekholta (oak wood); Eichhalden (oak height); Eichstegen (oak path); Echehout, in Hainault (oak wood); Eykebusch (oak thicket).

[Sidenote: AK (Turc.),]

white; _e.g._ Ak-tag, Ak-dagh (the white mountains); Ak-su (white river); Ak-hissar (white castle); Ak-serai (white palace); Ak-shehr (white dwelling); Ak-meschid (white mosque); Ak-kalat (white fortress).

[Sidenote: AL (the Arabic definite article);]

_e.g._ Alkalat (the fortress); Almaden (the mine); Alcantara (the bridge); Alkasar (the palace); Almeida (the table); Almeria (the conspicuous); Almazen (the storehouse); Alcarria (the farm); Alcana (the exchange); Algezira (the island), anc. _Mesopotamia_ (_i.e._ between the rivers); Algeciras (the islands), in Spain; Algarve (the west); Almansa (the plain); Almazara (the mill); Alhambra (the red); Alhucen (the beautiful); Alpuxarras (the grassy mountains).

[Sidenote: ALD, EALD (A.S.), ALT (Ger.), OUDE, OLDEN (Dutch),]

old; _e.g._ Alton, Oldham, Althorpe, Alcaster, Aldwark (old dwelling, farm, camp, fortress); Audlem (old lyme or border); Audley (old field), in England. In Germany: Altenburg, Altendorf, Oldenburg (old dwelling); Altenmarkt (old market); Altmark (old boundary); Altstadt (old place); Altsattel (old seat); Altofen (old oven), so called from its warm baths; Oudenarde (old earth or land); Oudenbosch (old thicket); Oude-capel (old chapel).

[Sidenote: ALDEA (Span. and Port., from the Arabic),]

a village; _e.g._ Aldea-del-Cano (the dog’s village); Aldea-vieya (old village); Aldea-el-Muro (the walled village); Aldea-del-Rio (of the river); Aldea Galliga (of the Gauls).

[Sidenote: ALIT (Cym.-Cel.), ALT (Irish),]

a height or cliff; _e.g._ Alltmaur (the great height); Builth, in Wales, _i.e._ _Bu-allt_ (the steep place of the wild oxen). The Alts (heights or glen-sides), Monaghan; Altachullion (the cliff of the holly); Altavilla, _i.e._ _Alt-a-bhile_ (the glen-side of the old tree); Altinure (the cliff of the yew-tree); Altanagh (abounding in cliffs); Altan (the little cliff).

[Sidenote: ALP, AILPE (Celtic), AIL,]

a rock or cliff; _e.g._ the Alps; Albainn (the hilly or high land), the anc. name of Scotland; Albania, with the same meaning; Alpenach (the mountain stream), at the foot of Mount Pilate; Alva and Alvah (the rocky), parishes in Scotland; Cantal (the _head_ of the rock), in France. In Ireland the word _ail_ takes the form of _oil_, aspirated _foyle_ or _faill_; _e.g._ Foilycleara (O’Clery’s cliff); Foilnaman (the cliff of the women): but while the aspirated form of _ail_ is confined to the south, _aill_ is found all over Ireland; Ayleacotty, _i.e._ _Aill-a-choite_ (the cliff of the little boat); Ailla-gower (the goat’s cliff); Alleen (the diminutive) is found in Alleen-Hogan and Alleen-Ryan (Hogan’s and Ryan’s little cliff). When, however, _foyle_ comes in as a termination, it is commonly derived from _poll_ (a hole), as in Ballyfoyle and Ballyfoile (the town of the hole). The anc. name of Britain, _Albion_, has sometimes been traced to this root, but more generally to the _white_ cliffs (Lat. _albus_) on the coast of Kent, as seen first by the Romans.

[Sidenote: ALR (A.S.), ALNUS (Lat.), AUNE (Fr.),]

the alder-tree; _e.g._ Alr-holt, Aldershot (alder-tree wood); Alresford (Alderford); Alrewas (alder-tree pasture); Alderley (alder-tree meadow), in England; Aulney, Aulnoy, Aulnois, Aunay, Auneau (alder grove), in France.

[Sidenote: ALT (Gadhelic),]

a stream; _e.g._ the Alt, Aldan, Alta (river names); Alt-dowran (otter stream); Aultsigh (gliding stream); Alt-na-guish (the stream of the fir-trees); Aldivalloch, _i.e._ _Allt-a-bhealaich_ (the stream of the pass); Alness, _i.e._ _Allt-an-casa_ (of the cascade); Alltmore (great stream); Auldearn, _i.e._ _Allt-fearn_ (alder-tree stream); Cumbernauld, corrupt. from _Cumar-nan-alta_ (the confluence of the streams); Garavault in Aberdeenshire, Garvault in East Lothian, and Garvald in Dumfriesshire (rough stream); Altderg (red stream).

[Sidenote: ALTUN, or ALTAN (Tartar),]

golden; _e.g._ the Altai, or golden mountains; Altanor (golden lake); Altan-su (golden river); Alta-Yeen (the golden mountains); Altun-tash (golden rock); Altun-kupri (golden bridge).

[Sidenote: AM, or AN,]

contrac. from Ger. _an den_ (on the, or at the); _e.g._ Amberg (at the hill); Amdorf or Ambach, Amsteg, Amwalde (at the village, brook, path, wood).

[Sidenote: AMAR (Old Ger.),]

a kind of grain; _e.g._ Amarbach, Amarthal, Amarwang, Amarveld (the brook, valley, strip of land, field where this grain grew).

[Sidenote: AMBACHT, or AMT (Ger.),]

a district under the government of an Amtman or bailiff; _e.g._ Amt-sluis (the sluice of the Ambacht); Amthof (the court of the Amtman); Graven-Ambacht (the duke’s district); Ambachtsbrug (the bridge of the Ambacht).

[Sidenote: AMBR,]

an Indo-Germanic word, signifying a river, allied to the Sansc. _ambu_ (water). According to Forsteman (_v._ _Deutsche Ortsnamen_) the suffix _r_ was added by most European nations before their separation from the Asiatic tribes, as appears in the Greek _ombros_ and the Lat. _imber_ (a shower). The word appears in the names of tribes and persons, as well as of places, on the European continent; _e.g._ the Ambrones (or dwellers by the water), and perhaps in Umbria; Amberloo and Amersfoort (the meadow and ford by the water), in Holland; and in such river names as the Ammer, Emmer, Emmerich, Ambra, etc.

[Sidenote: ANGER (Ger.),]

a meadow or field; _e.g._ Rabenanger (the raven’s field); Kreutzanger (the field of the cross); Moosanger (mossy field); Wolfsanger (the wolf’s field, or of Wolf, a man’s name); Vogelsanger (the birds’ field); Angerhusen (the field houses); Angerbach (the field brook); Anger (the field), a town in Austria; Angerburg (the fortress in the field).

[Sidenote: ANGRA (Port.),]

a creek or bay; _e.g._ Angra (a sea-port in the Azores); Angra-de-los-reyes (the king’s bay).

[Sidenote: AQUA (Lat.), AGUA (Span. and Port.), ACQUA (It.), EAU (Fr.; Old Fr. AX),]

water; _e.g._ Aix, anc. _Aquæ-Sextiæ_ (the warm springs, said to have been discovered and named by Sextus Calvenus, B.C. 123), in Provence; Aix, in Dauphiny, anc. _Aquæ-Vocontiorum_ (the waters of the Vocontii); Aix-les-bains (the bath waters), in Savoy; Aachen or Aix-la-Chapelle, celebrated for its mineral springs, and for the chapel erected over the tomb of Charlemagne; Plombières, anc. _Aquæ-plombariæ_ (waters impregnated with lead); Veraqua, in New Granada, corrupt. from _Verdes-aguas_ (green waters); Aigue-perse (the bubbling water), in Auvergne; Aigue-vive (the spring of living water); Aigue-belle (beautiful water); Aigue-noire (black water, etc.), in France; Dax, celebrated for its saline springs, corrupt. from _Civitas aquensis_ (the city of waters); Aigues-mortes (stagnant waters); Aguas-bellas (beautiful waters), Portugal; Aguas-calientes (warm waters), Mexico; Evaux, Evreux (on the waters), France; Evian, anc. _Aquarum_ (the waters), Savoy; Entreves and Entraigues (between the waters), anc. _Interaquæ_; Yvoire, anc. _Aquaria_ (the watery district), on Lake Geneva; Aas or Les Eaux (the waters), Basses Pyrénées; Nerac, anc. _Aquæ Neriedum_ (the waters of the Nerii); Amboise and Amboyna (surrounded by waters); Bordeaux (the dwelling on the water), _borda_, Low Lat. (a dwelling); Vichy, anc. _Aquæ calidæ_ (warm waters), on the Allier; Bex (upon the two waters), at the juncture of the Rhone and Avençon; Outre L’Eau (beyond the water); Acapulca, in Mexico, corrupt. from _Portus aquæ pulchræ_ (the port of beautiful waters); Agoa-fria (cold water), Brazil; Aqui, in North Italy, celebrated for its baths; Acireale, anc. _aguas calientes_ (the warm waters); Agoa-quente (hot spring), Brazil.

[Sidenote: ARA,]

a frequent element in river names, with various and even opposite meanings. Some of the river names may have come from the Sansc. _ara_ (swift, or the flowing), and in Tamil _aar_ means simply a river. There is another Sanscrit word _arb_ (to ravage or destroy), with which the Gadhelic words _garw_, _garbh_ (rough) may be connected; and, on the other hand, there is the Welsh _araf_ (gentle). According to the locality and the characteristics of the stream, one must judge to which of these roots its name may belong. There are, in England, the Aire, Arre, Arro, Arrow; in France, the Arve, Erve, Arveiron, etc.; in Switzerland and Germany, the Aar, Are; in Spain and Italy, the Arva, Arno; and in Scotland, the Ayr, Aray, Irvine, etc. Many of these names may signify simply flowing water (the river), while others beginning with the syllable _ar_ may be referred to the adjectival forms, _araf_, _arb_, _ara_, or _garbh_, followed by another root-word for _water_, as in Arrow (the swift stream); Yarrow (the rough stream); _ow_ (water); Arveiron (the furious stream); _avon_ (water); Arar (the gentle stream), now the Saone.

[Sidenote: ARD, AIRD (Gadhelic),]

a height, or, as an adjective, high; _e.g._ the Aird (the height) on the south coast of the island of Lewis, also in Inverness-shire; Aird Point in the island of Skye; Aird-dhu (the black height), a hill in Inverness-shire; the Airds (high lands in Argyleshire); Airdrie, Gael. _Aird_-righ (the king’s height), or, perhaps, _Aird-reidh_ (the smooth height); Aird’s Moss (a muirland tract in Ayrshire); Ardbane (white height); Ardoch (high field); Ardclach (high stony ground); Ardach and Ardaghy (high field); Ardmore (great height); Ardeen and Arden (the little height); Ardglass (green height); Ardfert (the height of the grave or ditch, Irish _fert_); Ardrishaig (the height full of briers, _driseach_); Ardnamurchan (the height of the great headland, _ceann_, or of the great ocean, _cuan_); Ardgower (goat’s height); Ardtornish (the height of the cascade, _cas_ and _torr_); Ardross (high point); Ardrossan (little high point); Ardchattan (St. Cathan’s height); Ardersier, Gael. _Ard-ros-siar_ (the high western height); Ardlui (the height of the fawn, _laoidh_); Ardentinny (of the fire, _teine_); Ardboe (of the cow); Ardbraccan (of St. Brachan); Ardfinan (St. Finan’s height); Armagh, in Ireland, anc. _Ardmacha_ (the height of Macha, the wife of one of the early Irish colonists); Arroquhar, in Dumbarton, _i.e._ Ardthir (the high land); Ardmeanach (the mossy height or the black isle); Ardgask (the hero’s height, Gael. _gaisgeach_, a hero); Ardnacrushy (of the cross); Ardtrea (St. Trea’s height); Ardnarea, _i.e._ _Ard-na-riaghadh_ (the height of the executions, with reference to a dark tale of treachery and murder); Ardgay (windy height); Ardblair (high field); Ardwick (high town, a suburb of Manchester). The Lat. root _arduus_ (high) is found in Ardea, in Italy; the Ardes (or heights), in Auvergne; Auvergne itself has been traced to _Ar-fearann_ (high lands), but Cocheris, _Au Noms de Lieu_, gives its ancient name as _Alverniacus_ (_i.e._ the domain of the _Auvergni_). Ardennes, Forest of (high-wooded valleys); Ardwick-le-street (the high town on the great Roman road), _stratum_. _Ard_, _art_, and _artha_ are also Persian prefixes attached to the names of places and persons; _e.g._ Ardboodha (the high place of Buddha); Aravalli (the hill of strength); and such personal names as Artaxerxes, Artabanes, Artamenes. In some cases it may refer to the agricultural habits of the Indo-Germanic races (Lat. _aro_, Grk. αροω, Goth. _arjan_, Old High Ger. _aran_, Cel. _ar_ (to plough), hence the Aryan tribes are those belonging to the dominant race--the aristocracy of landowners, as distinguished from the subject races--_v._ Taylor’s _Names of Places_.

[Sidenote: ARN, ERN (Teut.), ARNE, ARA (Lat.), a home, AREA, _bas_ (Lat.), AIRE (Fr.), AROS (Cel.),]

a place, farm, dwelling; _e.g._ Heddern (hiding-place); Beddern (sleeping-place); Suthern (south place); Arne, a town in Yorkshire; Chiltern (chalk place); Whithorn, in Wigton, A.S. _Whitern_, Lat. _Candida-casa_ (white house); Asperne (the place of poplar-trees); Femern (of cattle); Domern (of judgment); Thalern (valley dwelling); Mauthern (toll place); Bevern and Bevergern (the dwelling on the R. Bever); Aire, Lat. _Area-Atrebatum_ (the dwelling of the Atrebates), on the Adour, in France; also Aire, on the Lys; Les Aires (the farms); Airon, etc., in France, Bavaria, Ger. _Baiern_ (the dwelling of the Boii); Aros, Gael. (the dwelling), in Mull; Arosaig (corner dwelling), Argyle.

[Sidenote: ARN (Old Ger.), ARI (Norse), ERYR (Welsh),]

an eagle. This word is used in topography either with reference to the bird itself, or to a personal name derived from it; _e.g._ Arnfels (eagle’s rock); Arnberg, Arnstein, Arlberg (eagle mountain or rock); Arisdale (eagle valley, or the valley of a person called Arix); Arnau (eagle meadow); Arnecke (eagle corner); Arendal (eagle valley); Arenoe (eagle island); Eryri (the eagle mountain), the Welsh name for Snowdon.

[Sidenote: ARX (Lat.),]

a fortress; _e.g._ Arcé, anc. _Arx_, a town in Italy with a hill fortress called _Rocca d’Arcé_ (the rock of the fortress); Arcis sur Aube (the fortress on the R. Aube), in France; Arcole and Arcola, in Lombardy and Sardinia; Saar-Louis, anc. _Arx-Ludovici-Sarum_ (the fortress of Louis on the Saar), founded by Louis XIV., 1680; Arx-fontana or Fuentes (the fortress of the fountain), in Spain; Monaco, anc. _Arx-Monæci_ (the fortress of the Monæci), on the Gulf of Genoa; Thours, anc. _Tuedæ-Arx_ (the fortress on the R. Thouet), in France.

[Sidenote: AS, or AAS (Scand.),]

a hill ridge; _e.g._ Astadr (ridge dwelling); As and Aas, the names of several towns in Sweden and Norway; Aswick, Aastrap, Aasthorp (the village or farm on the ridge) in Shetland.

[Sidenote: ASTA (Basque),]

a rock; _e.g._ Astorga, in Spain, Lat. _Asturica-Augusta_ (the great city on the rocky water, _ura_); Astiapa and Estepa (the dwelling at the foot of the rock), in Spain; Astulez and Astobeza, also in Spain; Asti, a district in Sardinia which was peopled by Iberians or Basques; Astura (the rocky river); Asturias (the country of the dwellers by that river); Ecija, in Spain, anc. _Astigi_ (on the rock); Estepa and Estepona (rocky ground).

[Sidenote: ATH, AGH (Gadhelic), AUGH,]

a ford. This root-word is more common in Ireland than in Scotland, and is cognate with the Lat. _vadum_, and the A.S. _wath_ or _wade_; _e.g._ Athy, _i.e._ _Ath-Ae_ (the ford of Ae, a Munster chief who was slain at the spot); Athmore (great ford); Athdare (the ford of oaks); Athenry (the king’s ford); Athlone, _i.e._ _Ath Luaen_ (the ford of St. Luan); Athleague (stony ford); Athane (little ford); Aghanloo (Lewy’s little ford); the town of Trim is in Irish _Athtruim_ (the ford of the elder trees); Agolagh, _i.e._ _Athgoblach_ (the forked ford); Aboyne (the ford of the river), on the Dee in Aberdeenshire; Athgoe, _i.e._ _Ath-goibhne_ (the ford of the smiths), in Dublin.

[Sidenote: ATHEL (A.S.), ADEL (Ger.), ADELIG (Gothic),]

noble, or the nobles; _e.g._ Adelsdorf, Adelsheim, Adelshofen, Attelbury (the nobles’ dwelling); Athelney (the island of the nobles), in Somersetshire, formerly insulated by the rivers Tone and Parret; Addelsfors (the nobles’ waterfall); Adelsberg (the nobles’ hill); Adelsclag (the nobles’ wood-clearing); Adelsoe (the nobles’ island); Adelmanns-felden (the nobleman’s field).

[Sidenote: AU, AUE (Ger.), AUGIA (Lat.),]

a meadow, formed from _aha_ (water), and frequently annexed to the name of a river; _e.g._ Aarau, Ilmenau, Rheinau, Wetterau, Oppenau, Muhrau (the meadow of the _Aar_, _Ilmen_, _Rhine_, _Wetter_, _Oppa_, _Muhr_); Frankenau (the Franks’ meadow); Lichtenau (the meadow of light); Reichenau (rich meadow); Schoenau (beautiful meadow); Greenau (green); Langenau (long); Weidenau (pasture-meadow); Rosenau (the meadow of roses); Lindau (of lime-trees); Herisau, Lat. _Augia-dominus_ (the Lord’s meadow); Eu, anc. _Augia_ (the meadow), in Normandy; Hanau (the enclosed meadow); Nassau (the moist meadow); Iglau (the meadow of the R. Igla, in Moravia); Troppau, in Silesia (the meadow of the R. Oppa).

[Sidenote: AUCHTER or OCHTER (Gadhelic), UCHDER (Welsh),]

the summit, or, as an adjective, upper; _e.g._ Auchtertyre, anc. _Auchterardower_ (the summit on the water); Auchterarder (the upper high land); Auchterblair (upper field); Auchtercairn (upper rock); Auchtermuchty (the upper dwelling, _tigh_, of the wild boar, _muc_); Auchterau (the upper water); Auchtertool (the upper land on the R. Tiel), in Fife; Auchterless (the upper side, _slios_). In Ireland this word takes the form of _Oughter_; _e.g._ Oughterard (upper height); Oughter-lough (upper lake, in reference to Loch Erne); Balloughter (upper town); Lissoughter (upper fort); Killoughter (upper church). The Irish adjective _uachdar_ is not unfrequently Anglicised _water_, as in Clowater in Carlow, _i.e._ _Cloch-uachdar_ (upper stone or castle); Watree, in Kilkenny, _i.e._ _Uachdaraighe_ (upper lands)--_v._ Joyce’s _Irish Names of Places_.

[Sidenote: AVON, AFON (Cym.-Cel.), ABHAIN, ABHUINNE (Gael.), AMNIS (Lat. Sansc. _ap._),]

water, a river; _e.g._ the Avon, Aven, Aune, Auney, Inney, Ewenny, Aney, Eveny, river names in England, Wales, and Ireland; Avengorm (red river); Aven-banna (white river); Avenbui (yellow river); Avonmore (great river), in Ireland; the Seine, anc. _Seimh-au_ (smooth river); the Mayenne or Meduana (probably the middle river, from Cel. _meadhou_). In France there are from this root--the Ain, Avenne, Vilaine, Vienne; the Abona, in Spain. In Scotland: the Almond or _Awmon_; Devon (deep river); Doon (dark river); Kelvin (woody river); Annan (quiet river); the Leith, Leithen, Lethen (the broad or the gray river); the Don, in Scotland and England (dark or brown river); Irvine and Earn (the west-flowing river); Anwoth, in Kirkcudbright, _i.e._ Avonwath (the course of the river); the Spey, _speach-abhain_ (swift river); the Allan (beauteous river, _aluinn_); the Boyne, anc. _Bouoninda_ (perhaps yellow river, _buidhe_). Many towns derive their names from their rivers, or from their vicinity to water: thus, Avignon and Verona (on the water); Amiens, the cap. of the _Ambiani_ (dwellers on the water, _i.e._ of the Samara or Somme). Teramo, anc. _Interamnia_ (between the rivers), and Terni, with the same meaning; Avenay, anc. _Avenacum_ (on the river); Avesnes, celebrated for its mineral springs. But such names as Avenay, Avennes, etc., may have been derived in many cases from Lat. _avena_, Fr. _avoine_ (oats)--_v._ Cocheris’s _Noms de Lieu_.

B

[Sidenote: BAAL,]

a prefix in Phœnician names, derived from the worship of the sun-god among that people; _e.g._ Baalath and Kirjath-Baal (the city of Baal); Baal-hazor (Baal’s village); BaalHermon (near Mount Hermon); Baal-Judah, etc., in Palestine. Sometimes, however, the word is used as synonymous with _beth_ (a dwelling), as Baal-tamar and Baal-Meon (for Bethtamar and Beth Meon). But Baal-Perazim, we are told, means the _place of breaches_, and has no reference to the sun-god, Baalbec (the city of the sun), in Syria.

[Sidenote: BAB (Ar.),]

a gate or court; Babel and Babylon, according to the Arabic (the gate of God), or from a word signifying confusion, Gen. xi. 9; Baab (the gate), a town in Syria; El-Baab (the gate), in the Sahara; Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of (the gate of tears), so called by the Arabs from its dangerous navigation; Bab-el-estrecho (the gate of the narrow passage), the Arabic name for the Strait of Gibraltar.

[Sidenote: BACH, BATCH (Teut.), BEC, BOEK (Scand.), but _bach_, by mutation _fach_ or _vach_, in Welsh names means small, little,]

a brook; _e.g._ Snail-batch and Caldbeck (cold brook or swift brook); _snell_ in A.S. and Old English means active, sharp, quick; and in Scotland, as applied to the weather, it means sharp or severely cold; Crumbeck (crooked brook); Lauterbach (clear brook); Skurbeck (dividing brook); Griesbach and Sandbach (sandy brook); Gronenbach (green brook); Over-beck (upper); Reichenbach (rich); Marbeck (boundary); Schoenbach (beautiful brook); Beckford (the brook ford); Bacheim and Beckum (the dwelling at the brook); Beckermet (the meeting of brooks); Bickerstith (the station at the brook); Laubach and Laybach (the warm brook); but Laubach may also mean rich in leaves--_v._ ACH. Bec in Normandy is named from a brook that flows into the Risle: Birkbeck in Westmoreland (the birch-tree brook); Ansbach or Anspach (at the stream in Bavaria); Schwalbach (the swallow’s brook), in Nassau; Houlbec, in Normandy, Holbeck, in Lincoln and in Denmark (the brook in the hollow); Fulbeck (Lincoln) and Foulbec, in Normandy (muddy brook).

[Sidenote: BAD (Teut.), BADD (Cym.-Cel.),]

a bath or mineral spring; _e.g._ Baden, anc. _Thermæ-Austricæ_ (the Austrian warm springs); Baden-Baden, anc. _Civitas Aquenses Aurelia_ (the watering-place of Aurelius); Baden-bei-Wien (the baths near Vienna); Baden-ober (the upper baths); Franzens-bad (the bath of the Franks); Carlsbad or Kaiser-bad (the bath-town of the Emperor Charles IV. of Bohemia); Marien-bad, Lat. _Balneum Mariæ_ (the bath-town of the Virgin Mary); Wiesbaden, anc. _Fontes-Mattiaci_ (the baths or springs of the _Mattiaci_, dwellers on the meadow)--_v._ WIESE; Badborn (bath well); Wildbad (wild bath, _i.e._ not prepared by art), in the Black Forest; Slangenbad (the bath of snakes), so called from the number of snakes found in the mineral springs; Badsdorf (bath village), Bohemia. The Celtic name of the English city _Bath_ was _Caer-badon_, or _Bathan-ceaster_ (bath city or fortress); the Anglo-Saxons made it _Akeman-ceaster_ (the sick man’s camp), or _Aquæ Sulis_ (dedicated to a British divinity, Sulis, identified with Minerva).

[Sidenote: BAGH (Ar. and Turc.),]

a garden; _e.g._ Bag, or Baug, in Hindostan. Bagdad superseded Seleucia, which, it is related, was reduced to such a state of ruin as to have nothing remaining on the spot where it stood formerly but the cell of the monk Dad; hence the name of the new city founded by the Caliph Almazar, A.D. 762. Baghdad, _i.e._ the garden of Dad, a monk who had his cell near the site of the city; Bala-Bagh (high garden), in Affghanistan; Karabagh (black garden), a district in Armenia, so called from its thick forests; Alum-bagh (the garden of the Lady Alum), in Hindostan; Baktschisarai (the palace of the garden), in Crimea.

[Sidenote: BAGNA (It.), BANO (Span.), BANHO (Port.), BAIN (Fr.),]

from the Lat. _balneum_ (a bath); _e.g._ Bagnacavallo (the horses’ bath); Bagna-di-aqua (water bath); Bagnazo, Bagnara, Bagnari, towns in Italy, celebrated for their baths. In France there are Bagnères-de-Bigorre (the baths of Bigorones, _i.e._ the dwellers between two heights); Bagnères-de-Luchon (the baths on the R. Luchon); Bains-les-du-mont-doré (the baths of the golden mount); with numerous names with similar meanings, such as Bagneux, Bagneaux, Bagnol, Bagnoles, Bagnolet, Bagnot, etc. In Italy: Bagnolina (the little bath); Bagni-di-Lucca, Bagni-di-Pisa (the baths of Lucca and Pisa).

[Sidenote: BAHIA (Port.),]

a bay; _e.g._ Bahia or St. Salvador (the town of the Holy Saviour), on the bay, in Brazil; Bahia-blanca (white bay); Bahia-hermosa (beautiful); Bahia-honda (deep); Bahia-negra (black); Bahia-neuva (new bay); Bahia-de-Neustra-Senora (the bay of Our Lady); Bahia-Escosesa (Scottish bay), in Hayti; Bayonna, in Spain, and Bayonne, in France (the good bay), from a Basque word, signifying _good_; Baia (the town on the bay), in Naples; Bahia-de-todos los Santos (All Saints’ Bay), in Brazil.

[Sidenote: BAHN (Ger.),]

a way or path; _e.g._ Winter-bahn (winter path); Langen-bahn (long path); Wild-bahn (wild or uncultivated path).

[Sidenote: BAHR, or BAHAR (Ar.),]

a sea, a lake, and sometimes a river; _e.g._ Bahar-el-Abiad (the white); Bahar-el-azrak (the blue river), forming together the Nile; Bahar-belame (waterless river), in Egypt; Baraach (the sea of wealth), in Hindostan; Bahari (the maritime district), Lower Egypt; Bahr-assal (salt lake), Africa; Bahrein (the two seas), a district in Arabia, between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea; also a group of islands on the same coast.

[Sidenote: BAILE, BALLY (Gadhelic),]

originally merely a place, a home, then a fort, a town, allied to the Grk. _polis._ The word joined with the article _an_ is found as _ballin_ for _baile-an_; _e.g._ Ballinrobe (the town of the R. Robe); Balbriggan (Brecon’s town); Ballintra and Ballintrae, in Ireland, and Ballantrae, in Scotland (the dwelling on the strand); Ballinure (the town of the yew); Ballintubbert (the town of the well); Ballinakill (of the church or wood); Ballinahinch (of the island); Ballinamona (of the bog), in Ireland; Ballycastle (castle town); Ballymena (middle town); Ballymony (of the shrubbery); Balmagowan and Ballingown (of the smiths); Ballymore and Ballmore (great town); Nohoval, corrupt. from _Nuachongbhail_ (new dwelling), localities in Ireland. In Scotland: Balvanie, anc. _Bal-Beni-mor_ (the dwelling of Beyne, the great first Bishop of Mortlach), in Aberdeenshire; Balmoral (the majestic dwelling, _morail_); Ballater (the dwelling on the hill-slope, _leitir_); Balmerino (on the sea-shore, _muir_); Balachulish, Gael. _Baile-na-caolish_ (the dwelling on the narrow strait); Baldernock, Gael. _Baile-dair-cnoc_ (the dwelling at the oak hill); Balnacraig (dwelling of the rock); Balfour (cold dwelling); Balgay (windy dwelling, _gaoth_, wind); Balfron (of mourning, _bhroin_), so called, according to tradition, because a number of children had been devoured by wolves at the place; Balgreen (the sunny place, _grianach_); Balgarvie (of the rough stream); Ballagan and Ballogie (the dwelling in the hollow); Balgownie and Balgonie (of the smiths); Balbardie (of the bard); Balmac Lellan (the dwelling of the Bal-MacLellan), in Kirkcudbright; Balmaghie (of the Maghies); Balquhidder (the town at the back of the country); Balblair (of the field or plain).

[Sidenote: BALA (Turc.),]

high; _e.g._ Bala-hissar (high castle); Bala-dagh (high mountain); Bala-Ghauts (the high Ghauts); Balasore (high dwelling); Balkan (high ridge), also called Mount Haemus (the snowy mount), _hima_ (Sansc.), snow; Balkh (high town), anc. Bactra.

[Sidenote: BALKEN (Ger.),]

a ridge; _e.g._ Griesen-balken (sandy ridge); Moes-balken (mossy ridge); Schieren-balken (clear ridge)--the word is applied to chains of mountains in general.

[Sidenote: BALTA (Scand.), BALTEUS (Lat.),]

a strait or belt; _e.g._ Balta (the island of the strait); Baltia (the country of belts or straits), the ancient name of Scandinavia. The Great and Little Belts, or straits.

[Sidenote: BAN (Gadhelic),]

white, fair; _e.g._ Rivers Bann, Bane, Bain, Bana, Banon, Bandon, Banney, etc.; Banchory (the fair valley).

[Sidenote: BAN (Cym.-Cel.),]

a hill or height; _e.g._ Cefn-y-fan (the hill-ridge); Tal-y-fan (the face of the hill), in Wales. _B_ by mutation becomes _f_.

[Sidenote: BANT, BANZ (Ger.), POINT and PAINT, _Ahd_,]

a district or enclosure, from Old Ger. _pyndan_ (to confine), cognate with Cym.-Cel. _pant_; _e.g._ Brabant, _i.e._ _Brach-bant_ (the ploughed district); Altenbanz (the old); Ostrevant (the eastern); Grunnenbant (the green district); Hasel-point (hazel field); Pound-stock (the enclosed place), in Germany; Drenthe, corrupt. from _Thri-banta_ (the three districts), in Holland; Bantz, in Bavaria. From _pant_ we have in Monmouth, Panteg (beautiful valley, _têg_); Pant-y-goitre (the valley of the town in the wood).

[Sidenote: BANYA (Hung.),]

a mine; _e.g._ Uj-banya (new mine); Nagy-banya (great mine), a town of Hungary with gold and silver mines, named by the Germans _Neustadt_; Abrud-banya (the mine on the R. Abrud, a district abounding in metals).

[Sidenote: BARR (Gadhelic), BAR (Cym.-Cel.), BARD (Scand.),]

a summit; _e.g._ Barmona (the summit or top of the bog); Barra-vore (great height, _mor_); Barmeen (smooth summit), in Ireland. In several counties in Scotland we have Barr (the uplands), but Barr in Ayrshire took its name from St. Barr; Barbreac (spotted point); Barrie and Barra (the head of the water, _abh_); Barcaldine (hazel point, _calltunn_); Barbeth (birch point); Barrglass (gray point); Bar-darroch (the summit of the oak grove); Bardearg (red point); Barcaple (the horses’ point); the Bard of Mousa and of Bressay, in the Shetlands, is the projection on these islands; the ancient name of the town of Perth was _Barr-Tatha_ (the height of the R. Tay); Barwyn for Bar-gwn (a white-topped mountain, or tipped with snow), in Wales. In France the prefix _bar_ is applied to strongholds, as in Bar-le-Duc (the duke’s citadel); Bar-sur Saone, Bar-sur Aube (the stronghold on the rivers Saone and Aube).

[Sidenote: BARROW (Scand.), BEORH (A.S.),]

a mound of earth, especially over a grave; _e.g._ Barrow-by (the dwelling at the mound); Ingle-barrow (the mound at the grave of Ingold). But, in some cases, barrow may be a form of A.S. _boerw_ (a grove), as in Barrow-den (the grove hollow), in Rutland.

[Sidenote: BAU (Ger.), GEBAUDE, BAÜEN, to build,]

a building; _e.g._ Brun-bau (the well-house); Neu-bau and Alten-bau (the old and new building); Buittle (the building), a parish on the Solway Firth; Tichel-boo (brick building); Forst-gebaude (the building in the forest). It takes the form of bottle and buttel in Germany, and battle in Britain--_v._ p. 27; Newbattle (new building in Mid Lothian); Wulfen-buttel (the dwelling of Ulpha); Bolton, in Lancashire, anc. _Botl_.

[Sidenote: BAUM (Ger.) BEAM (A.S.), BOOM (Dut.),]

a tree, a post; _e.g._ Baumburg (tree town); Baumgarten (the orchard); Baumgartenthal (orchard valley); Baum-krüg (the tree inn); Schöenbaum (beautiful tree); Heesbaum (the hazel-tree), in Germany; Bampton and Bempton (tree town), in Oxford and Yorkshire; but Bampton in Devon takes its name from the R. Bathom--its ancient name was _Bathom-ton_.

[Sidenote: BEDD (Welsh),]

a grave; _e.g._ Bedd-gelert (the grave of a favourite hound of Llewelyn, or, as others affirm, the grave of a saint named Kelert).

[Sidenote: BEDW (Cym.-Cel.), BEITH (Gadhelic), BEDWEN (Welsh),]

the birch-tree, cognate with the Lat. _betula_; _e.g._ Beddoe (the birches), Salop; Bedwelty, _i.e._ _Bedw-gwal-ty_ (the wild beast’s dwelling among the birches), in Monmouth; Penbedw (birch hill), Monmouth. In Ireland: Beagh, Beaghy, Behagh, Behy, _i.e._ (birch land); Kilbehey, _i.e._ _coill-beithne_ (birch wood); Behanagh (birch-producing river); Ballybay, _i.e._ _Bel-atha-beithe_ (the ford mouth of the birch); Aghaveagh (birch field). In Scotland: Beith and Beath, in Fife and Ayrshire; Dalbeath, Dalbeth, Dalbeathie (the birch field or valley); Barbeth (the summit of birches).

[Sidenote: BEEMD (Dutch),]

a meadow; _e.g._ Beemd and Beemte (on the meadow); Haagschbeemden (enclosed meadow); Beemster-polder (the meadow embankment).

[Sidenote: BEER, BIR (Heb. and Ar.),]

a well; _e.g._ Beer-sheba (the well of the oath); Beer-Elim (the well of heroes); Beer-lahai-roi (the well of the living sight); Beirout (the city of wells), in Palestine; Bir, a town of Asiatic Turkey.

[Sidenote: BEER, or BEAR (Teut.), BUR (A.S.), BYR (Old Ger.),]

a farm, cottage, or dwelling; _e.g._ Beer-Regis (the king’s farm); Beer-Alston (the dwelling of Alston); Beardon and Berewood (the dwelling on a hill and in a wood); Aylesbear (the dwelling of Aegle); Bühren, in Hanover and Switzerland; Beuren, in Swabia; Grasbeuren (grassy dwelling); Sandbuur (sandy dwelling); Erlesbura (dwelling among elms); Beerendrecht (the dwelling on the pasture); Nassenbeuren (damp dwelling); Blaubeuren (the blue dwelling); Benediktbeuren (the dwelling of the Benedictines).

[Sidenote: BEG, BEAG (Gadhelic), BACH, or BYCHAN, by mutation _fach_ or _fychan_ (Cym.-Cel.),]

little; _e.g._ Morbihan (the little sea), in Brittany; Taafe-fechan (the little River Taafe), in Wales. In Ireland: Castlebeg (little castle); Downkillybegs (the fortress of the little church); Bunbeg (small river mouth); Rathbeg (little fort).

[Sidenote: BEIM,]

a contraction of the Ger. _bei-dem_ (by the); _e.g._ Beimbach, Beimberg, Beimhofen (by the brook, the hill, the court).

[Sidenote: BEINN (Gadhelic), BEN,]

a mountain, cognate with the Cym.-Cel. _pen_; _e.g._ Beanach (a hilly place); Ben-more (great mountain); Ben-a-buird (table mountain); Ben-a-bhaird (the bard’s mountain); Benan, _i.e._ _Binnean_ (the peaked hill or pinnacle); Bencleuch (stony mountain); Ben-cruachan (the stack-shaped mountain, _cruach_); Bendearg (red mountain); Bendronach (the mountain with the hunch, _dronnag_); Bengloe (the mountain with the covering or veil, _gloth_); Benamore and Bannmore (the great peaks, _beanna_, peaks); Bennachie (the hill of the pap, at its summit, _ache_); Benavoir (the mountain of gold, _or_), in Jura; Benclibrig (the hill of the playing trout); Benloyal, _i.e_, _Ben-laoghal_ (the hill of the calves); Ben-na-cailleach (nun’s hill); Ben Lomond, named from Loch Lomond, _quod vide_; Benmacdhui, _i.e._ _Beinn-na-muc-dubh_ (the mountain of the black sow); Ben Nevis (the cloud-capped or snowy mountain); Benvenue (the little mountain), as compared with Benledi; Benwyvis (stupendous mountain, _uabhasach_); Benvrachie (spotted mountain); Benvoirlich (the mountain of the great loch). In Ireland: Benbo, _i.e._ Beannabo (the peaks of the cows); Dunmanway, in Cork, corrupt. from Dun-na-mbeann (the fortress of the pinnacles). In Ireland _ben_ is more generally applied to small steep hills than to mountains; _e.g._ Bengore (the peak of the goats, _gabhar_); Benburb, Lat. _pinna superba_ (proud peak), in Tyrone; the Twelve Pins, _i.e._ _bens_ or peaks, in Connemara; Banagh and Benagh (a place full of peaks); Bannaghbane and Bannaghroe (white and red hilly ground); Banaghar, King’s Co., and Bangor, Co. Down, anc. _Beannchar_ (the pointed hills or rocks); but Bangor, in Wales, signifies the high choir; Drumbanagh (the ridge of the peaks).

[Sidenote: BEL, BELLE, BEAU (Fr.), BELLO, BELLA (Port., Span., It.),]

beautiful, fine, from the Lat. _bellus_; _e.g._ Belchamp, Belcastro (beautiful field and camp); Belle-isle and Belile (beautiful island); Beaufort, Beaulieu, Beaumont, Beaumanoir (fine fort, place, mount, manor); Beaumaris (the fair marsh), so named in the reign of Edward I. Some think it may have been formerly _Bimaris_ (between two seas), a name applied by Horace to Corinth; Belvoir (beautiful to see), in Rutland; Bewley and Bewdley, corrupt. from Beaulieu; Beauley, a river and village in Inverness-shire, named from _Prioratus-de-bello-loco_ (the priory of the beautiful place), founded in 1230; Beachy Head, according to Camden, is the head of the beach, but Holland, who published _Camden’s Britannia_, says it was called Beaucliff, or, more probably, Beauchef (beautiful headland); Beaudesert (beautiful retreat); Belper, _i.e._ _Beau-repaire_ (with the same meaning), in Warwick and Derbyshire; Leighton-Buzzard, corrupt. of its ancient name _Legionbuhr_ (the fortress of the legion); Balaclava, corrupt. from its ancient name _Bella-chiava_ (the beautiful frontier town, _chiave_), founded by the Genoese.

[Sidenote: BEL, BIALA (Sclav.),]

white; _e.g._ Biela (white stream); Bela, Belaia (white place); Belowes and Belowiz (white village); _was_ or _wies_ (a town or village); Belgrade, Ger. _Weissenburg_ (white fortress); Bialgorod, Turc. _Akkermann_ (white castle); Belki or Bielki (a name applied in Russia to snow-capped mountains); Berat, in Albania, corrupt. from Belgrade (white fort).

[Sidenote: BEL, BEAL (Gadhelic),]

a mouth, in its literal sense, but in a secondary sense, signifying an entrance into any place. In Ireland it is often united with _ath_ (a ford), forming _belatha_ (ford entrance). The word _bel_ itself is often used to denote a ford; _e.g._ Belclair, _i.e._ _Bel-an-chlair_ (the ford or entrance to the plain); _Belatha_ (Anglicised _Bella_) is found in many names, as in Bellanagare, _i.e._ _Bel-atha-na-gcarr_ (the ford mouth of the cars); Lisbellaw (the fort at the ford mouth); Bel-atha is often changed in modern names to _balli_ or _bally_, as if the original root were _baile_ (a town), as in Ballinamore (the mouth of the great ford); Ballinafad (the mouth of the long ford); Ballyshannon is corrupt. from _Bel-atha-Seanach_ (Shannagh’s ford); Belfast, anc. _Bel-feirsde_ (the ford of the _farset_ or sandbank); Ballinaboy, _i.e._ _Bel-an-atha-buide_ (the mouth of the yellow ford); Ballinasloe, _Bel-atha-na-sluaigheadh_ (the ford mouth of the armies); _Bel_ (a ford) is not found in Scotland, but a word with a kindred meaning as applied to land, _bealach_ (a pass or opening between hills), is frequent there, as well as in Ireland, and takes the form of _ballagh_ or _balloch_; _e.g._ Ballaghboy in Ireland, and Ballochbuie in Scotland (the yellow pass); Ballaghmore (great pass); Ballaghkeen (the beautiful pass, _cæin_); Ballaghadereen (the pass of the little oak grove); Balloch alone occurs in several counties of Scotland, the best known being Balloch, at the entrance to Loch Lomond; Ballochray (smooth pass, _reidh_); Ballochmyle (the bald or bare pass); Ballochgair (short pass); Ballochcraggan (of the little rock); Balloch-nam-bo (the pass of the cattle), etc.

[Sidenote: BELED, or BELAD (Ar.),]

a district; _e.g._ Beled-es-Shurifa (the district of the nobles); Belad-es-Sûdân (the district of the Blacks); Belad-es-Sukkar (sugar district); _Belad-t-moghrib_ (the district of the West), the Arabian name for Morocco, also called _Beled-el-Djered_ (the land of dates); Beled-el-Sham (the district of the north or on the left), the Arabic name for Syria, to distinguish it from Yemen (to the south or right). Syria was also called by the Turks Soristan, and by the Greeks Suria, _i.e._ the country of Tyre (_Tzur_, the rock). The word in its secondary sense means prosperous or happy--hence the Greeks called it Αραβια ἡ εὐδαίμων, to distinguish it from Arabia deserta (Ar.), _El-Badiah_ (the desert), hence the Bedawees or Bedouins.

[Sidenote: BENDER (Ar.),]

a market or harbour. Bender is the name of several towns on the Persian Gulf, and also of a town on the Dniester; Bender-Erekli (the harbour of the ancient Heraclea), on the Black Sea.

[Sidenote: BENI (Ar.),]

sons of; _e.g._ Beni-Hassan (a town named from the descendants of Hassan); Beni-Araba (belonging to the sons of the desert); Beni-Calaf (to the sons of the Caliph); Beni-Sham (the sons of Shem), _i.e._ Syria; Beni-Misr (the land of Mizraim or Egypt).

[Sidenote: BERG (Ger.), BIERG (Scand.), BRIG, BRAIGH (Celtic),]

a hill, a summit; _e.g._ Ailberg (eagle hill); Bleyberg (lead hill); Schneeberg (snowy hill); Walkenberg (the hill of clouds); Donnersberg (of thunder); Habsberg, Falkenberg, Valkenberg (of hawks); Finsterberg (dark hill); Groenberg (green hill); Teufelsberg (the devil’s hill); Greiffenberg (the griffin’s hill); Geyersberg (of the vulture); Jarlsberg (of the earl); Dreisellberg (the hill of three seats); Kupperberg (copper hill); Heilberg (holy hill); Silberberg (silver hill, near a silver mine); Schoenberg (beautiful hill). The word _berg_, however, is often applied to the names of towns and fortresses instead of _burg_; and, when this is the case, it indicates that the town was built on or near a hill, or in connection with a fortress; _e.g._ Kaiserberg (the hill fort of the Emperor Frederick II.); Würtemberg, anc. Wirtenberg (named from the seignorial chateau, situated upon a hill). The name has been translated (the lord of the hill) from an Old Ger. word _wirt_ (a lord). Heidelberg is a corrupt. of Heydenberg (the hell of the pagans), or from heydel myrtle, which grows in great abundance in the neighbourhood; Lemberg, Lowenburg, or Leopolis (the fortress of Leo Danielowes), in Galicia; Nurnberg, anc. _Norimberga_ or _Castrum Noricum_ (the fortress of the Noricii); Lahnberg (on the R. Lahn); Spermberg (on the Spree); Wittenberg (white fortress); Köningsberg (the king’s fortress), in E. Prussia and in Norway; Bamberg (named after Babe, daughter of the Emperor Otho II.), in Bavaria; Havelberg (on the R. Havel). There are several towns in Germany and Scandinavia called simply Berg or Bergen; _e.g._ Bergen-op-Zoom (the hill fort on the R. Zoom), in Holland; Bergamo (on a hill), in Italy. Berg (a hill) sometimes takes the form of _berry_, as in Queensberry, in Dumfries; also of _borough_, as in Flamborough Head and Ingleborough (the hill of the beacon light). _Gebirge_ signifies a mountain range; _e.g._ Schneegebirge (the snow-clad range); Siebengebirge (the range of seven hills); Fichtelgebirge (of the pines); Erzegebirge (the ore mountain range); Glasischgebirge (of the glaciers); Eulergebirge (of the owls).

[Sidenote: BETH (Heb.), BEIT (Ar.),]

a house; _e.g._ Bethany (the house of dates); Bethphage (of figs); Bethsaida (of fish); Bethoron (of caves); Bethabara (of the ford); Bethlehem (the house of bread), but its present name, _Beit-lahm_, means the house of flesh; Bethesda (of mercy); Betharaba (desert dwelling); Bethjesimoth (of wastes); Bethshemish Grk. _Heliopolis_ (the house or city of the sun); its Egyptian name was _Aun-i-Aun_ (light of light), contracted to _On_; Beit-Allah (the house of God), at Mecca; Beit-el-Fakih (the house of the saint), on the Red Sea.

[Sidenote: BETTWS (Cym.-Cel.),]

a portion of land lying between a river and a hill, hence a dwelling so situated; _e.g._ Bettws-yn-y-coed (the dwelling in the wood); Bettws-disserth (the retreat dwelling); Bettws-Garmon (of St. Germanus, where he led the Britons to the famous Alleluia victory over the Saxons); Bettws-Newydd (new dwelling).

[Sidenote: BETULA (Lat.), BOULEAU (Fr.),]

the birch-tree; _e.g._ Le Boulay, La Boulay, Les Boulages, Les Boulus, Belloy (places planted with birch-trees).

[Sidenote: BIBER, BEVER (Teut.), BOBR (Sclav.),]

the beaver; _e.g._ the Biber, Beber, Biberich, Beber-bach (rivers in Germany); Bober, Boberau, Bobronia (beaver river), in Silesia and Russia; Bobersburg (on the R. Bober); Biberschlag (beaver’s wood clearing); Biberstein (beaver rock); Beverley, in Yorkshire, anc. _Biberlac_ (beaver lake), formerly surrounded by marshy ground, the resort of beavers; Beverstone, in Gloucester; Beverloo (beaver marsh), in Belgium.

[Sidenote: BILL,]

an old German word, signifying plain or level; _e.g._ Bilderlah (the field of the plain); Billig-ham (level dwelling); Wald-billig (woody plain); Wasser-billig (the watery plain); Bilstein (level rock); Bielefeld (level field); Bieler-see (the lake on the plain).

[Sidenote: BIOR (Gadhelic),]

water, an element in many river names; _e.g._ the Bere, in Dorset; Ver, Hereford; Bervie, in Mearns. The town of Lifford, in Donegal, was originally _Leith-bhearr_ (the gray water); Berra, a lake in France; the Ebura or Eure, in Normandy; and in Yorkshire, the Ebro, anc. _Iberus_; Ivry, in Normandy, anc. _Ebarovicus_ (the town on the Ebura).

[Sidenote: BIRCE, BIRKE (Teut.), BERK, (Lat.) BETULA, BEORC (A.S.),]

the birch-tree; _e.g._ Birkenhead (the head of the birches); Birchholt (birch wood); Berkeley (birch field); Birchington, Birkhoff (the birch-tree dwelling and court); Birkhampstead (the home place among the birches); Oberbirchen (the upper birches); but Berkshire is not from this root; it was called by the Anglo-Saxons _Berroc-shyre_, supposed to be named from the abundance of _berroc_ (boxwood), or the _bare-oak-shire_, from a certain polled oak in Windsor Forest, where the Britons were wont to hold their provincial meetings.

[Sidenote: BLAEN (Cym.-Cel.),]

the source of a stream; _e.g._ Blaene-Avon, Blaen-Ayron, Blaen-Hounddu (river sources in Wales); Blaen-porth (the head of the harbour); Blaen-nant (of the brook); Blaen-Bylan, abbreviated from Blaen-pwll-glan (the top of pool bank); Blaen-Sillt, at the top of a small stream, the Sillt, in Wales; Blaen-afon (of the river).

[Sidenote: BLAIR, BLAR (Gadhelic),]

a plain, originally a battle-field; _e.g._ Blair-Athole, Blair-Logie, Blair-Gowrie (the battle-field in these districts); Blairmore (the great); Blaircreen (the little plain); Blairdaff (the plain of the oxen, _daimh_); Blair-burn (of the stream); Blair-craig (of the rock); Blair-linne (of the pool); Blair-beth (of birches); Blair-ingone (the field of spears), in Perthshire; Blair-glass (gray plain); Blarney (little field), in Ireland; Blair-Drummond, Blair-Adam, modern places named after persons.

[Sidenote: BLANC (Fr.), BLANCO (Span.), BIANCO (It.), BRANCO (Port.), BLANC (A.S.), BLANK (Ger.),]

white; _e.g._ Mont-Blanc, Cape-blanco, Sierra-blanca (white mountain-ridge); Castella-bianca (white castle); Villa-bianca (white town); Blankenburg (white town); Blankenham (white dwelling); Blankenhavn, Blankenloch, Blankenrath, Blankenese (white haven, place, wood-clearing, cape), in Germany; Bianchi-mandri (white sheep-folds), in Sicily; Branco (the white stream), in Brazil; Los-Brancos (the white mountains); Cata-branca (the white cove); Casa-branca (the white house), in Brazil.

[Sidenote: BLISKO (Sclav.),]

near; _e.g._ Bliesdorf, Bliesendorf, Blieskendorf (near village); Bliskau (near meadow).

[Sidenote: BLOTO, BLATT (Sclav.),]

a marsh; _e.g._ Blotto, Blottnitz (marshy land); Wirchen-blatt (high marsh); Sa-blatt, Sablater, Zablatt (behind the marsh); Na-blatt (near the marsh). In some cases the _b_ in this word is changed into _p_, as in Plotsk and Plattkow (the marshy place); Plattensee or Balaton (the lake in the marshy land).

[Sidenote: BOCA (Span., Port., and It.),]

a mouth--in topography, the narrow entrance of a river or bay; _e.g._ Boca-grande, Boca-chica (great and little channel), in South America; La Bochetta (the little opening), a mountain pass in the Apennines; Desemboque (the river mouth), in Brazil.

[Sidenote: BOD (Cym.-Cel.),]

a dwelling; _e.g._ Bodmin, in Cornwall, corrupt. from _Bodminian_ (the dwelling of monks); Bodffaris (the site of Varis), the old Roman station on the road to Chester; Hafod, the name of several places in Wales, corrupt. from Hafbod (a summer residence); Bosher or Bosherston, corrupt. from _Bod_ and _hir_, long (the long ridge abode), in Wales.

[Sidenote: BODDEN (Teut.), BOD (Scand.),]

a bay, the ocean swell; _e.g._ Bodden (an arm of the sea which divides the island of Rugen from Pomerania); Bodden-ness (the headland of the bay), on the east coast of Scotland.

[Sidenote: BODEN (Ger.),]

the ground, soil--in topography, a meadow; _e.g._ Gras-boden (grassy meadow); Dunkel-boden (dark meadow). It may sometimes, however, be used instead of _bant_ or _paint_--_v._ p. 18; and in Bodenburg, in Brunswick, it is a corrupt. of _Ponteburg_ (bridge town); and Bodenheim is from a personal name, like Bodensee--_v._ SEE.

[Sidenote: BOGEN (Ger.),]

a bend or bow--in topography, applied to the bend of a river; _e.g._ Bogen, anc. _Bogana_ (the bending river); Bogen, a town of Bavaria, on a bend of the Danube; Ellbogen or Ellenbogen, Lat. _Cubitus_ (the town on the elbow or river bend), in Bohemia; Bogenhausen (the houses on the river bend); Langen-bogen (the long bend); Entli-buch (the bend on the R. Entle), in Switzerland.

[Sidenote: BOLD, BATTLE, or BOTTLE, BÜTTEL, BLOD (Teut.), BOL, or BO (Scand.),]

a dwelling; _e.g._ Newbattle, Newbottle, Newbold (new dwelling), as distinguished from Elbottle (old dwelling); Morebattle (the dwelling on the marshy plain); Bolton, in Lancashire, A.S. _Botl_; Buittle, in Kirkcudbright; Newbald, Yorkshire; Harbottle (the dwelling of the army, _here_), a place in Northumberland where, in former times, soldiers were quartered; Erribold (the dwelling on the tongue of land, _eir_); Maybole, in Ayrshire, anc. _Minnibole_ (the dwelling on the mossy place, Cym.-Cel., _myswn_); Exnabul, in Shetland (a place for keeping cattle); _yxn_, Scand. (a bull or cow); Walfenbuttel (the dwelling of Ulpha); Brunsbottle (of Bruno); Ritzbüttel (of Richard); Griesenbottel (sandy dwelling); Rescbüttel (the dwelling among rushes).

[Sidenote: BONUS (Lat.), BUEN (Span.), BOA, BOM (Port.),]

good; _e.g._ Bonavista, Boavista (good view); Buenos-Ayres (good breezes), in South America; Buenaventura (good luck), in California.

[Sidenote: BOOM (Sansc.),]

_Bhuma_ (land, country); _e.g._ Birboom (the land of heroes); Arya-Bhuma (the noble land), the Sanscrit name for Hindostan.

[Sidenote: BOR (Sclav.),]

wood; _e.g._ Bohra, Bohrau, Borowa, Borow (woody place); Borovsk (the town in the wood); Sabor and Zaborowa (behind the wood); Borzna (the woody district); the Borysthenes, now the R. Dnieper (the woody wall), from _stena_ (a wall or rampart), the banks of the river having been covered with wood; Ratibor (the wood of the Sclavonic god Razi).

[Sidenote: BRACHE (Teut.), BRAK (Scand.),]

land broken up for tillage, Old Ger. _pracha_ (to plough); _e.g._ Brabant, anc. _Bracbant_ (the ploughed district); Brachstadt, Brachfeld, Brachrade (the ploughed place, field, clearing); Brakel (the ploughed land), in Holland; Hohenbrack (high ploughed land).

[Sidenote: BRAND (Ger.),]

a place cleared of wood by burning; _e.g._ Eber-brand and Ober-brand (the upper clearing); Newen-brand and Alten-brand (the old and new clearing); Brandenburg (the burned city), so called, according to Buttman, by the Germans; by the Wends corrupted into _Brennabor_, and in their own language named _Schorelitz_ (the destroyed city), because, in their mutual wars, it had been destroyed by fire. _Bran_ and _Brant_, in English names, are probably memorials of the original proprietors of the places, as in Brandon, Cumbran, Brandeston; Brantingham (the home of the children of Brand)--_v_. ING, INGEN.

[Sidenote: BRASA (Sclav.), BERESA,]

the birch-tree; _e.g._ Briesnitz, Beresoff, Beresek, Beresenskoi, Beresovoi (places where birches abound); Gross-Briesen (great birch-tree town); Bresinchen (little Briesen), a colony from it; Birsa and Beresina (the birch-tree river); Birsk, a town on the R. Birsa; Brzesce-Litewski (the house of mercy at the birches); the letter _b_ in this word is often changed into _p_ by the Germans, as in Presinitz for _Brezenice_ (birch-tree village), in Bohemia; also Priebus, with the same meaning, in Silesia; Priegnitz, _i.e._ the town of the Brizanen (dwellers among birches); Briezen (the place of birches), in Moravia, is Germanised into Friedeck (woody corner); Bryezany (abounding in birches), in Galicia.

[Sidenote: BRAY (Cel.),]

damp ground, a marshy place; _e.g._ Bray, in Normandy; Bray sur Somme and Bray sur Seine, situated on these rivers; Bray-Maresch, near Cambray; Bré Côtes-de-Nord; Bray-la-Campagne (calvados, etc.)

[Sidenote: BREIT (Ger.), BRAD (A.S.), BRED (Scand.),]

broad; _brede_, Dutch (a plain); _e.g._ Breitenbach and Bredenbeke (broad brook); Breda (the flat meadowland), in Holland; Breitenbrunn (broad well); Breitenstein, Breitenburg (broad fortress); Bradford, in Yorkshire, and Bredevoort, in Holland (broad ford); Bredy (the broad water), in Dorset; Brading, in Isle of Wight, and Bradley (broad meadow); Bradshaw (broad thicket); Broadstairs, corrupt. from its ancient name _Bradstow_ (broad place).

[Sidenote: BRIA (Thracian),]

a town; _e.g._ Selymbria, Mesymbria.

[Sidenote: BRIGA (Cel.), BRIVA,]

a general name among the Celts for a town--so called, apparently, from the Celtic words _braigh_, _brugh_, _brig_ (a heap, pile, or elevation), because the nucleus of towns, among uncivilised tribes in early times, were merely fortified places erected on heights; cognate with the Teut. and Scand. _burg_, _byrig_, the Sclav. _brieg_ (an embankment or ridge), and the Scottish _brae_ (a rising ground). Hence the name of the _Brigantes_ (dwellers on hills); the word _Brigand_ (literally, a mountaineer); Briançon, anc. _Brigantium_ (the town on the height); Brieg, a town in Silesia; Braga and Bragança, fortified cities in Portugal; Talavera, in Spain, anc. _Tala-briga_, the town on the _tala_, Span. (a wood clearing); Bregenz, anc. _Brigantium_, in the Tyrol; Breisach Alt and Neuf (the old and new town on the declivity), in the duchy of Baden--the old fortress was situated on an isolated basalt hill; Brixen (the town among the hills), in the Tyrol. In Scotland there are Braemar (the hilly district of Mar); Braidalbane (the hill country of _Albainn_, _i.e._ Scotland); Braeriach (the gray mountain, _riabhach_); the Brerachin, a river and district in Perthshire; Brugh and Bruighean, in Ireland, signifying originally a hill, was subsequently applied to a palace or a distinguished residence. The term, as applied to the old residences, presupposed the existence of a fortified brugh or rath, several of which still remain. The word has suffered many corruptions: thus Bruree, in Limerick, is from _Brugh-righ_ (the king’s fort); and _Bruighean_ (little fort) has been transformed into Bruff, Bruis, Bruce, or Bryan. The word _briva_, on the other hand, was generally applied to towns situated on rivers--as in Amiens, anc. _Samarabrina_, on the R. Somme--and was gradually used as synonymous with _pons_ (bridge), as in Pontoise, anc. _Briva-Isara_ (the bridge on the Ouse); Briare, anc. _Brivodurum_ (the bridge over the water); Brionde, anc. _Brives_.

[Sidenote: BRINK (Ger.),]

a grassy ridge; _e.g._ Osterbrink (east ridge); Mittelbrink (middle ridge); Zandbrink (sand ridge); Brinkhorst (the ridge of the thicket).

[Sidenote: BRO (Cym.-Cel.),]

a district; _e.g._ Broburg (the fort of the district), in Warwickshire; Pembroke (the head, _pen_, of the district, it being the land’s end of Wales).

[Sidenote: BROC (A.S.),]

a rushing stream; _e.g._ Cranbrook (the stream of the cranes); Wallbrook (probably the stream at the wall); Wambrook (Woden’s stream).

[Sidenote: BROC (A.S.), BROX,]

the badger; _e.g._ Brox-bourne and Broxburn, Brogden, Brokenhurst, Brockley, Broxholme (the stream, hollow, thicket, meadow, and hill of the badger).

[Sidenote: BROD (Sclav.),]

a ford; _e.g._ Brod and Brody (at the ford), the name of several towns in Moravia, Bohemia, Hungary, and Turkey; Brod-sack (ford dwelling); Brod-Ungarisch (the Hungarian ford), on the Olsawa; Brod-Deutsch (the German ford), on the Sasawa; Brod-Bohmisch (the Bohemian ford), on the Zembera; Krasnabrod (beautiful ford); Eisenbrod (the ford of the Iser); Brodkowitz (ford station).

[Sidenote: BROEK, BRUOCH (Teut.),]

a marsh; _e.g._ Broek, a town in Holland; Bogen-brok (the bending marsh); Breiden-bruch (the broad marsh); Aalten-broek (the old marsh); Eichen-bruch (the oak marsh); Broekem and Broickhausen (marsh dwelling); Bruchmühle (the mill on the marsh); Brussels or Bruxelles, anc. _Bruoch-sella_ (the seat or site on the marsh); Oberbruch and Niederbruch (upper and lower marsh).

[Sidenote: BROG (Sclav.), BROW,]

a dam; _e.g._ Biesenbrow and Priebrow, from _Pschibrog_ (elder-tree dam), by the Germans called _Furstenberg_, on the Oder; Colberg, Sclav. _Kola-brog_ (around the dam).

[Sidenote: BRON (Welsh),]

the slope or side of a hill; _e.g._ Brongest (the slope of the _cest_ or deep glen); Bronwydd (the slope covered with trees); _Wydd_, in Wales.

[Sidenote: BRÜCKE (Ger.), BRIGGE (A.S.), BRO, BRU (Scand.),]