Geographical etymology: a dictionary of place-names giving their derivationsBlackie, Christina
History
Geographical etymology: a dictionary of place-names giving their derivations
Blackie, Christina
Names, Geographical
Kinghorn is now Burntisland; Kingarth, in Bute, _i.e._ _Ceann-garbh_
(the rough or stormy headland); Kinnoul (the head of the rock,
_ail_); Kintail (the head of the flood, _tuil_), _i.e._ of the two
salt-water lakes in Ross-shire; Boleskine (the summit of the furious
cascade, _boil cas_), _i.e._ of Foyers, in Inverness-shire; Kinmundy,
in Aberdeenshire, corrupt. from _Kinmunny_ (the head of the moss,
_moine_); Kinglassie, in Fife, was named after St. Glass or Glasianus);
Kenoway, Gael. _ceann-nan-uamh_ (the head of the den); Kent, Lat.
_Cantium_ (the country of the _Cantii_, or dwellers at the headland).
In Ireland: Kenmare in Kerry, Kinvarra in Galway, and Kinsale in
Cork, mean the head of the sea, _i.e._ _ceann-mara_ and _ceann-saile_
(salt water), the highest point reached by the tide; Kincon (the
dog’s headland); Kinturk (of the boar); Slyne Head, in Ireland, is
in Irish _Ceann-leime_ (the head of the leap), and Loop Head is
_Leim-Chonchuillinn_ (Cuchullin’s leap); Cintra, in Portugal, may mean
the head of the strand, _traigh_.
[Sidenote: CEFN (Cym.-Cel.),]
a ridge, cognate with the Grk. κεφαλη, a head; _e.g._ the Cevennes, the
Cheviots; Cefn-Llys (palace ridge); Cefn-bryn (hill ridge); Cefn-coed
(wood ridge); Cefn-coch (red ridge); Cefn-y-Fan (the hill ridge);
Cefn-Rhestyn (the row of ridges); Cefn-cyn-warchan (the watch-tower
ridge); Cemmaes (the ridge of the plain), in Wales; Cefalu (on the
headland), in Sicily; Chevin Hill, near Derby; Chevin (a high cliff),
in Yorkshire; Cephalonia (the island of headlands), also called _Samos_
(lofty); Cynocephale (the dog’s headland), in Thessaly.
[Sidenote: CEOL (A.S.),
KIELLE (Teut.),]
a ship; _e.g._ Keal and Keelby, in Lincoln (ship station); Ceolescumb,
Ceolëswyrth, Ceolseig, and perhaps Kiel, in Denmark; Chelsea, _i.e._
Ceolesig, on the Thames.
[Sidenote: CEORL (A.S.),]
a husbandman; _e.g._ Charlton (the husbandman’s dwelling); Charlinch
(the husbandman’s island), formerly insulated.
[Sidenote: CEOSEL (A.S.),]
sand, gravel; _e.g._ Chesil (the sand-hill), in Dorset; Chiselhurst
(the thicket at the sand-bank); Chiseldon (sand-hill); Chiselborough
(the fort at the sand-bank); Winchelsea, corrupt. from _Gwent-ceoseley_
(the sand-bank on the fair plain, _gwent_), or, according to another
etymology, named after Wincheling, the son of Cissa, the first king of
the South Saxons; Chiswick (sandy bay), on the Thames.
[Sidenote: CERRIG (Welsh),]
a heap of stones; _e.g._ Cerrig-y-Druidion (the Druids’ stones);
Cerrig-y-Pryfaed (the crag of the teachers), probably the Druids, in
Wales.
[Sidenote: CHEP, CHEAP, CHIPPING (Teut.),
KIOPING, KIOBING,]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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