Exeter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic cathedral city in southwest England that serves as the county town of Devon ; a constituent college of the University of Oxford founded in 1314 ; a title held by a member of the English peerage
2. The cathedral city in Devon, southwest England, that is the county town ; the Oxford University college named after the old Exeter foundation ; a rank in the English nobility bestowed on certain peers
3. A southwest English city known as the county seat of Devon ; an Oxford college originating in the fourteenth century ; a noble title used in the peerage of England

Etymology: The name "Exeter" is a layered piece of place-name history, built from a river and a Roman fort. The river Exe, which flows through Devon to the sea, carries a name whose meaning is ancient and uncertain, but the town is named for the Old English "ċeaster," meaning "fortified town," a word that came from Latin "castra," or military camp. Anglo-Saxons who arrived in the region found the Roman city of Isca already standing on the riverbank and named it after the river they found there. Those Anglo-Saxons called the place "Exanceaster," joining the river's name "Ex" to "ċeaster." Over the Middle English period this shortened to "Excestre," and the spelling gradually settled into the form used today. The city's Roman name, Isca, is itself a Celtic word for water, a reminder that the river was there long before any settlement took its name.