The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names
Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society

Alphabetical listing of all place-names of England, with historical and etymological commentaries.

Victor Watts (Edited by), John Insley (Associate editor), Margaret Gelling (Associate editor)

9780521168557, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 February 2011

778 pages
24.6 x 18.9 x 4 cm, 1.4 kg

Review of the hardback: 'The Dictionary is a reliable and comprehensive fund of place-name data and there is much here to provide the interested reader not only with information but with many stimulating ideas.' Landscape History

Originally published in 2004, this alphabetical dictionary is a major reference work, based on the archives of the English Place-Name Society and reflecting the scholarship in the subject, of all the names of cities, towns, villages, hamlets, rivers, streams, hills and other geographical locations included in the Ordnance Survey Road Atlas of Great Britain (1983). It provides a reflection of contemporary England, not just its historical past. Every place-name entry has a unique National Grid reference number, a list of historical spellings, the age and meaning of the name and its etymology (pre-Indo-European, Indo-European, Celtic, Primitive Welsh, Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, Old French, Middle English, Modern English). Where appropriate, a commentary is provided on comparable names, on the problems, history and significance of the name for settlement, economic and social history, the development of the language and on its variant pronunciations and spellings.

Preface
Guide to dictionary entries
List of abbreviations
Glossary of most frequently used elements
Distribution maps
References
Places-names.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP], British & Irish history [HBJD1], Encyclopaedias & reference works [GB]