Esk

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A name given to several rivers in northern Britain, including one flowing through Cumbria and another through Scotland
2. The name of a river in northern England or southern Scotland, flowing toward the sea through rural countryside
3. A proper name borne by a few British rivers, most notably streams in the north of England and Scotland

Etymology: Esk is mainly a river name. The North and South Esk in Scotland, and the Esk in Cumbria and Yorkshire, all carry it. Its likeliest ancestor is a Brythonic river name, reconstructed as "Uɨsk" and possibly meaning "abundant in fish." The same root lies behind the rivers Axe, Exe, and Usk, so these names are relatives rather than separate inventions. A rival explanation connects the name to a Brythonic or Celtic word for water. That word is also the ancestor of Scottish Gaelic "uisge" (water, river), the element that appears in "whisky," which comes from "uisge beatha," meaning "water of life."