Kirkcudbright

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic royal burgh and market town on the Dee estuary in the Dumfries and Galloway region of southwestern Scotland
2. The small coastal town in southwestern Scotland known for its artists' colony and its old tolbooth on the River Dee
3. A picturesque Scottish town in the Stewartry area of Dumfries and Galloway, situated near the mouth of the River Dee

Etymology: Kirkcudbright is a town and former royal burgh on the Dee estuary in southwest Scotland, and its name is pronounced "kir-COO-bree," a spelling that bears little resemblance to the sound. The name is a Scots form of the older Gaelic-derived place name, and early records show it written as "Kirkoubrie," which is closer to how the name was once understood. The spelling shows the logic of the name: "kirk" is the Scots word for church, and the second element appears to be a Gaelic personal name, Cuthbert, the Northumbrian saint whose cult spread through the region. The town's name therefore records a church dedicated to Saint Cuthbert, with the Scots spelling later shaped to suit the local speech.