English
Halifax
Halifax comes from Old English halh-ġefeaxe.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150halh-ġefeaxeliterally ‘grassy corner’
- EnglishtodayHalifax
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150halh-ġefeaxeliterally ‘grassy corner’
- EnglishtodayHalifax
A compound of healh ‘a minor elevation in marshland’ + ġefeaxe ‘having hair’
Proto-Indo-European *klHk(ᵂ)-(n)-
Proto-Germanic *halhaz
Proto-West Germanic *halh ‘a depression or elevation, an area of land that differs in elevation from what it…’
Old English healh ‘a minor elevation in marshland’
Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘to pluck (wool, hair)’
Proto-Indo-European *poḱsom
Proto-Germanic *fahsą ‘hair’
Proto-West Germanic *fahs ‘hair, mane’
Old English feax ‘hair (on the head)’
Old English ġefeaxe ‘having hair’
The story
From Old English halh-ġefeaxe (literally “grassy corner”), compounded from halh + ġefeaxe. Folk etymology suggests Old English hāliġfeax (literally “holy hair”), as compounded from hāliġ + feax, from a local legend that the town is said to have received the name from the fact that the hair of a murdered virgin was hung up on a tree in the neighborhood, which became a resort of pilgrims.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted. The capital city of Nova Scotia is named after statesman George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1716–1771). The civil parish is also named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax.
Every English word from Old English halh-ġefeaxe
Today it means
name An industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, 20km south-west of Leeds (OS grid ref SE0925).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English halh-ġefeaxe / Halifax