English
Essex
Essex comes from Old English Ēastseaxan.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Ēastseaxanliterally ‘East Saxons’
- Englishearliest quotation 1935Essex
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Ēastseaxanliterally ‘East Saxons’
- Englishearliest quotation 1935Essex
Earliest quotation: 1935, Mrs. E. L. Drury Divorced […]: “A divorce has been granted to Mrs. Essex Leila…”
The story
Inherited from Old English Ēastseaxan (literally “East Saxons”), which stood for both Essex and the people of Essex.
Every English word from Old English Ēastseaxan
Today it means
name A maritime county of England bordered by the North Sea, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London, and separated from Kent by the Thames estuary.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English Ēastseaxan / Essex