Dumfriesshire

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic county in the south of Scotland, bordering England, known for its rolling hills, river valleys and market towns
2. An area of southern Scotland that was formerly a county, lying near the English border and noted for its farmland and scenery
3. A traditional administrative region in south-west Scotland along the Solway Firth, now merged into the Dumfries and Galloway council area

Etymology: Dumfriesshire is a former county in south-west Scotland, and its name is simply a town plus a county suffix. The town of Dumfries sits on the River Nith, and its name is generally understood to come from Scottish Gaelic roots meaning something like "fort of the copse" or "fort at the thicket", though the exact sense is debated. The "-shire" ending is the ordinary English and Scots word for a county, from Old English "scir", meaning a division or share of administration, which is why so many Scottish and English counties end this way. Joining the two gives a name that is transparent in form: it marks the county whose administrative centre was Dumfries. The pattern is the same as in Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Berwickshire, all named after their principal towns. The county itself was abolished as an administrative unit in 1975, when it was merged into the Dumfries and Galloway region, though the name remains in common use for the area.