Greensburg

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city in southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States ; a city in southeastern Indiana in the United States ; a town in south-central Kentucky in the United States
2. A municipality in western Pennsylvania in the United States ; an Indiana city in the southeastern part of that state ; a small Kentucky town in the south-central part of that state
3. A place in Pennsylvania in the United States ; a community in Indiana in the United States ; a settlement in Kentucky in the United States

Etymology: Greensburg is a place name rather than a word with a linguistic history, so its story lies in who named it and why. The city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, takes its name from Nathaniel Greene, the Revolutionary War general and comrade of George Washington, whose name was often given to places in the newly independent states during and after the war. The town grew up as the seat of the county, and the name is a straightforward honour: "Greene" with "-sburg," the common English-language formation meaning "town of" or "fort," from German "Burg," which settlers in Pennsylvania brought with them in great numbers. The pattern is typical of American town naming. Pennsylvania, with its large German-speaking population, produced many place names combining an English personal name or word with the element "-burg," as in Gettysburg, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Here the "burg" element reflects that settlement history, while the first part honours a general from the war that had only recently ended.