Caernarfon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic town on the coast of north-west Wales, best known for its medieval castle built by Edward I
2. A walled Welsh town in Gwynedd whose imposing castle is one of the most visited monuments in Wales
3. Northwest Welsh seaside town on the Menai Strait, home to a grand fortress and the site of royal investiture ceremonies

Etymology: Caernarfon is a town on the north Wales coast, and its English name is a loan from Welsh rather than a word that grew up in English. The Welsh name "Caernarfon" combines "caer", meaning fort, with "Arfon", the name of the district around the Menai Strait. For centuries English speakers wrote the name in forms that tracked the older English spelling habits, so the town appeared as "Carnarvon" and "Caernarvon" before the Welsh spelling was adopted. The Anglicised forms were not a sign of confusion so much as a reflection of how English writers heard and recorded Welsh. The modern spelling restores the Welsh form, and the earlier versions survive mainly in older maps, documents and titles. The most famous of these is the title Earl of Carnarvon, which still carries the older spelling even though the town itself has long used the Welsh one.