Leicester

English

Etymology

From Middle English Ledecestre, from Old English Ligore (“the name of a people living by the River Soar”) + ċeaster (“settlement”). The river name is thought to be of Brythonic/Celtic origin and possibly from the same source as the river Loire.[1]

Pronunciation
  • Audio (UK)(file)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈlɛstə/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • (US) enPR: lĕsʹtər, IPA(key): /ˈlɛstɚ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛstə(ɹ)
  • Homophone: Lester

Proper noun

Leicester

  1. A city and unitary authority in and the county town of Leicestershire, England.
  2. A town in Massachusetts, United States.
  3. An English earldom.
  4. A surname.

Translations

Noun

Leicester (plural Leicesters)

  1. A sheep of an English breed, valued for its meat and fleece.
    • 1869, Sheep: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases, page 328:
      The Leicesters and half-breds are purchased by farmers who keep no breeding stock: they are well turniped during the winter, and clipped and fattened in the following season.

References
  1. The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society, ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. LEICESTER, LEIRE.

Anagrams
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