York

:This article is about the historic English city. For other meanings, see York (disambiguation).

Etymology

This city was originally named by the Celts as Eborakon, which means "place of yew trees". The name od the Yew is Efrawg in Brythonic, Efwr in Welsh, Iobhar in Irish Gaelic, Iorc in Scottish Gaelic, Evor in Breton and was Eburos in Gaulic. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources, as Eboracum and Eburacum, with the ending -acumLatinized instead of -acon in celtic.

Related Topics:
Celts - Yew - Brythonic - Welsh - Irish Gaelic - Scottish Gaelic - Breton - Gaulic - Roman - Latin

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After 400 AD Anglo-Saxons took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc, which means "wild-boar town". The Proto-Germanic form of Old English eofor is *eburaz. York became Northumbria's centre of power later on. The Vikings took over the area later; who in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "horse bay", like a town in Bohuslän at the time, which was reduced to York in the centuries after the Norman Conquest.

Related Topics:
Anglo-Saxon - Folk etymology - Old English - Proto-Germanic - Northumbria - Vikings - Norse - Bohuslän - Norman Conquest

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