Abbreviations

a. as in a.1290

‘before’ (Lat ante), used in dates

acc.

accusative, the grammatical case used chiefly for objects of clauses

adj.

adjective

adv.

adverb

AF

Anglo-French

AN

Anglo-Norman

ASC

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle(s)

Ass.

Assize Rolls

A-S

Anglo-Saxon

BCS

Cartularium Saxonicum (ed. W. de G. Birch 1885-99; A-S charters)

BL

British Library

Br, Britt.

Brittonic, Brythonic

c. as in c.1200

‘about’ (Lat circa), used in dates

CDEPN

Victor Watts, Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names (2004)

C or cent., as in C14th, 14th cent.

century (can also be indicated e.g. by ’14th’ or 14)

cf.

‘compare’ (Lat confer), often used to refer to another p.n. or a name or linguistic form that is similar in some respect, or to a bibliographical item

Ch

Charter Rolls

Co.

County

dat.

dative, a grammatical case often used, with or without a preceding preposition, to indicate location

DB

Domesday Book, 1086

def. art.

definite article, e.g. ‘the’

DEPN

Eilert Ekwall, (Concise) Dictionary of English Place-Names (1960)

dial.

dialect, dialectal

dim.

diminutive

DOE

A. Cameron, A. Crandell Amos, A. diPaolo Healey (eds), Dictionary of Old English (ongoing)

DOST

W. A. Craigie, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (1937-)

E, Engl

English

EDD

Joseph Wright, English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905)

e., e as in e.14th, e14

early (in a century)

e.g.

‘for example’ (Lat exempli gratia)

el., els

element(s)

EPNE

A. H. Smith, English Place-Name Elements (= EPNS 25-6, 1956)

EPNS

English Place-Name Society (and Survey of English Place-Names)

ERN

Eilert Ekwall, English River-Names (1928)

et freq.

‘and frequently’ (Lat et frequenter), i.e. the spelling occurs frequently

et passim

‘and everywhere’ (Lat), i.e. the spelling is very frequent

f., fem.

feminine

FF

Feet of Fines

f.n.

field-name

G, ScG

Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic

gen.

genitive, the grammatical case used chiefly for possessives

Ger

German

Gmc

Germanic

GR

Grid Reference (also NGR)

HE

Hiberno-English (or Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica)

ib., ibid.

‘the same’ (Lat ibidem), often used for a further citation from the source just cited

IE

Indo-European

i.e.

‘that is’ (Lat id est), followed by an explanation

infra

‘below’ (later in the same discussion or book)

IPA

International Phonetic Alphabet

Ipm

Inquisitiones post mortem

Ir

Irish

KCD

J. M. Kemble (ed.), Codex Diplomaticus Ævi Saxonici (1839-48); A-S documents

l., l as in l.14th, l14

late (in a century)

Lat., L

Latin

LHEB

Kenneth Jackson, Language & History in Early Britain (1953)

m., masc.

masculine

m.

middle

ME

Middle English (c. 1100-1500)

MIr

Middle Irish

MLat

Medieval Latin

MLG

Middle Low German

ModE

Modern English (c. 1500 to present)

ModIr

Modern Irish

ms, ms., MS

manuscript

MW

Middle Welsh

n.

neuter or name

NCy

North Country

NED

A New English Dictionary (early version of OED)

NGR

National Grid Reference (also GR)

NLS/NRS

National Library/Records of Scotland

nom.

nominative, the grammatical case used chiefly for subjects of clauses

ODan.

Old Danish

OE

Old English (approx. C5th – C11th)

OED

Oxford English Dictionary

OEN

Old East Norse (Old Danish and Swedish)

OF/OFr/OFrench

Old French

OFris

Old Frisian

OG

Old Gaelic

OGer/OGerman

Old German

OHG

Old High German

OIcel

Old Icelandic

OI/OIr/OIrish

Old Irish

OLG

Old Low German

ON

Old Norse (often especially Old Danish and Old Norwegian); = OScand

OS

Ordnance Survey

OSax

Old Saxon

OScand

Old Scandinavian; = ON

OWe/OWelsh

Old Welsh

OWN

Old West Norse (Old Icelandic and Norwegian)

P

Pipe Rolls

(p)

personal name: used after early spellings of place-names, when the place-name occurs as part of a personal name

pers.n.

personal name

pl.

plural

p.n.

place-name (Note that ‘pn’ = ‘personal name’ in SSPN volumes)

PN + county abbreviation (e.g. PNNf)

‘The Place-Names of x’: a county survey (e. g. of Norfolk) in EPNS series

PR

Parish Registers

PRO

Public Record Office (now The National Archives, Kew)

prep.

preposition

PrW

Primitive Welsh

q.v.

‘which see’ (Lat. quod vide), used in cross references

RH

Rotuli Hundredorum / Hundred Rolls

RMS

Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum [Register of the Great Seal of the Kings of the Scots], ed. J. M. Thompson et al., 11 vols, 1882-1914

r.n.

river-name

RRS

Regesta Regum Scottorum [Register of the Kings of the Scots], multiple volumes and editors

S.

Saint (also St)

Sc

Scots

Scand.

Scandinavian

sic

‘thus’ (Lat): alerts readers to a mistake or oddity in a source; often used by modern editors to reassure readers that the mistake is not theirs

SND

W. Grant et al. (ed.), Scottish National Dictionary (1931- )

SPNS

Scottish Place-Name Society/Comann Ainmean-Aite na h-Alba

SSPN

Survey of Scottish Place-Names

St

Saint (also S.)

st.n.

street-name

supra

‘above’ (earlier in the same discussion or book)

SSE

Scottish Standard English

s.n.

‘under the name’ (Lat sub nomine): used to direct readers to the main entry for a name, or to a gazetteer or similar

s.v.

‘under the word’ (Lat sub verbo or sub voce): used to direct readers to a headword in a dictionary

t. as in t. Elizabeth

‘in the time (reign) of’ (Lat tempore)

tl

TNA

townland (in Ireland)

The National Archives, Kew

UE

Ulster English

UPNS

Ulster Place-Name Society

v.

‘see’ (Lat vide); used in cross-references, e. g. v. hecg directs reader to an elements list

var.

variant

VCH

Victoria County History

VEPN

David N. Parsons et al., Vocabulary of English Place-Names (1997- )

W

Welsh

WPNS

Welsh Place-Name Society/Cymdeithas Enwau Lleoedd Cymru

6″

OS map at scale of Six Inches to One Mile

( ) as in (e)

Forms occur with and without this letter; e. g. Kirkethwait(e) 1272 means that Kirkethwait and Kirkethwaite both occur in 1272

’ as in Hyton’

’ represents an abbreviation sign in the manuscript; the scribe might have meant a Latinised Hytona here.

*

[ ]

/ /

<x>

x in date range e.g. 1154×89

ā

á

phonetic transcription showing pronunciation

phonemic transcription (broader than phonetic)

a spelling or orthographic form

indicates an unknown date within this period

macron or length mark to indicate a long vowel in Old English

acute accent used to indicate (among other things) a long vowel in Old Norse/Scandinavian