Clapham

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A residential and commercial district in south London, England, known for its common and its historic village character ; a village in Bedfordshire, England, set in the countryside north of Luton
2. An area of southwest London around a large common and busy high street ; a small English village in the county of Bedfordshire, lying in rural countryside
3. A locality in south London, England, centred on a famous common ; a settlement in Bedfordshire, England, situated in quiet farmland near the town of Luton

Etymology: Clapham began as a place name. It is a district of south London, and the name is Old English, probably built from a personal name or descriptive element plus "-ham," meaning homestead or village. The exact first element is uncertain. The place became famous through a phrase. "The man on the Clapham omnibus" comes from a English judge, Lord Bowen, who needed a yardstick for ordinary, reasonable conduct in court. He imagined an everyday passenger on a London bus, someone sensible and average with no special expertise, and the figure stuck in legal and everyday English as a model of common-sense judgment.