Denver

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The capital and largest city of Colorado, located on the South Platte River in the central part of the state
2. A major U.S. city serving as the capital of Colorado, situated in the Rocky Mountain region at high elevation
3. The principal city and capital of Colorado, positioned in the central plains near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains

Etymology: Denver, the Colorado city, takes its name from James W. Denver, a governor of the Kansas Territory who was later the Ohio-born Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Few people realise the same word began as a place name in England. The surname Denver comes from Old English, and scholars offer two possible origins. One reads it as "Dene-fær," meaning "crossing or passing of the Danes," built from "Dene" (Danes) and "fær" (a crossing or passage). The other reads it as "den-ōfer," meaning "valley-bank," from "denu" (valley) and "ofer" (bank or slope). Both explanations point to a landscape feature, a ford or a valley edge, rather than a person. The American city was named in 1858 after James W. Denver, and the word has since spread far from its English roots as a family name.