Bishopsgate

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic thoroughfare in the City of London, named after a medieval gateway in the old Roman and medieval city wall
2. A London street in the financial district that takes its name from an old city gate once used to enter the walled City
3. The name of a road in central London, derived from a former gatehouse in the ancient wall that encircled the City

Etymology: Bishopsgate is one of the old gates in London's Roman and medieval city wall, and the street and ward take their name from it. Tradition credits the gate's construction to Earconwald, a seventh-century Bishop of London, which is where the "bishop" in the name comes from. The word is a plain compound: "bishop" joined to "gate" with a linking "s", a pattern seen in other London place names. The gate was one of the eastern entrances to the walled city, guarding the road that led out toward the northeast. Its name records a churchman rather than a military commander or a feature of the landscape, so the street's title preserves the memory of a bishop who lived more than a thousand years ago.