Beckington

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, located in the Mendip district of the southwest of the country
2. A small English village in Somerset, situated in the South Somerset area near the border with Wiltshire in southwest England
3. A rural settlement in the county of Somerset in southwestern England, known for its parish church and quiet countryside setting

Etymology: Beckington is a village in Somerset, England, and its name is a compound of Old English elements that are still readable. The ending "-ton" meant an enclosure or farmstead, and the "-ing" in the middle marks a settlement of the people associated with a person. The first element is most likely a personal name, probably Becca or Beohha, though the exact name is uncertain. So the name roughly means "the farmstead of Becca's people" or "of Beohha's people," a pattern shared by many English place names formed in the early medieval period. Such names were usually given to a community by its founders, and they often outlasted the people they named, so the personal name survives while nobody now living would recognise it.