Denbigh

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic market town in north-east Wales with a medieval castle ruin ; a county of north Wales that takes its name from the town
2. An old market town in the north-east of Wales known for its castle remains ; the surrounding local government area in north Wales bearing the same name
3. A traditional Welsh market town with a ruined castle on a hill ; a North Wales county named after that town

Etymology: Denbigh is a town in north Wales, and its name is the Welsh "Dinbych," a compression of two Welsh elements: "din," meaning "fort," and "bych," a variant of "bychan," meaning "small." The town's name therefore describes a little fortress, a sense that survives in the Welsh landscape around it. The English form is a doublet of "Tenby," the name of a Welsh coastal town that shares the same Welsh original. Two English words coming from one Welsh source is an unusual pattern, and it reflects how the same place name was taken into English along different routes and adapted to different spelling and pronunciation habits.