Dartmouth

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A port town in southwestern England on the River Dart in Devon, historically significant for naval affairs ; a prestigious Ivy League university located in Hanover, New Hampshire
2. A coastal settlement in Devon, England, situated where the River Dart meets the sea ; an elite American college in the Ivy League located in New Hampshire's Upper Valley region
3. A historic market town and port in Devon on England's south coast ; a major research university in the Ivy League located in Hanover, New Hampshire

Etymology: Dartmouth is a town and port in Devon, England, and its name describes its location exactly: it sits where the River Dart meets the sea. The name is simply "Dart" plus "mouth", the word for the outlet of a river, so the place is literally "the mouth of the Dart." Many English place names follow this pattern, pairing a river name with a descriptive term for its estuary, ford or bridge. The river's own name is the older and more interesting part of the story, but it is not something this source records, so the transparent compound is the part that can be stated with confidence. Because the name is a compound of two ordinary English elements, it needed no special coinage: local speakers simply named the settlement after the river and its outflow.