English
Somerset
Somerset comes from Old English Sumorsǣte.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Sumorsǣte
- Englishearliest quotation 1922Somerset
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Sumorsǣte
- Englishearliest quotation 1922Somerset
Earliest quotation: 1922, Arthur J. P. Williams, Rural Industries of the West Country: “In Somerset, for example, the local farmers would often…”
The story
From Old English Sumorsǣte, which is short for Sumortūnsǣte, meaning "the people living at or dependent upon Sumortūn (Somerton)". An alternative suggestion is that the name derives from *Seo-mere-sætan meaning "settlers by the sea lakes".
Every English word from Old English Sumorsǣte
Today it means
name A maritime county in the west of England bordered by Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon, the Severn estuary and the Bristol Channel.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English Sumorsǣte / Somerset