Blaine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine given name or surname of Irish origin, also used for several towns in North America ; an old variant spelling for a blister or small swelling on the skin
2. A personal name of Irish origin shared by various North American places ; an obsolete term for a pustule or raised swelling on the skin
3. A first name or family name, and the name of several American communities ; a rare older word meaning a blister or inflamed bump on the skin

Etymology: James G. Blaine was a Republican politician from Maine who served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as Secretary of State, and several American counties carry his name. "Blaine" as a word is shorthand for Blaine County, the name given to counties honoring him, so the term is a proper noun that has been clipped down to its first word. In the way American place names often work, the county's full name is simply the surname of a notable figure followed by the generic word "county." Because the term refers to a person's surname applied to a place, its meaning rests entirely on that namesake rather than on any older English word. Readers encountering it are most likely to be thinking of a specific county, and the ellipsis reflects how people casually refer to a place by its distinctive first element.