Aylesbury

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A market town in Buckinghamshire in the south of England, known historically as the county seat and administrative centre of the region
2. A town located in Buckinghamshire in southeastern England, famous for its duck breeding and traditional market economy
3. An English town in Buckinghamshire, situated in the southeast of the country and historically significant as a municipal and commercial centre

Etymology: Aylesbury is a town in Buckinghamshire, and its name records a personal name from the Anglo-Saxon period. The name comes from Old English "Æġles burg", meaning "Ægel's fortified place" or "Ægel's stronghold", with "burg" being the common Old English word for a fortified settlement, the same element that gives English words such as "borough" and "-bury" in so many place names. The first element is a man's name, Ægel, so the town is named after a person who was probably its founder or an early lord of the site. The second element tells you what kind of place it was. Settlements ending in "-bury" were typically fortified enclosures or defended places, often with earthwork ramparts, and many were built or reused during the wars with the Danes. Over the centuries the Old English spelling wore down into the modern form, which is pronounced "AYL-zbree," with the stress on the first syllable and the final part reduced to a soft, quick ending.