Rochdale

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A town in Greater Manchester in northwest England, historically known for its textile industry and cooperative movement
2. A municipality in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, located in the North West region of England
3. An urban area in Greater Manchester, England, situated east of Manchester and historically significant in the development of consumer cooperatives

Etymology: Rochdale is a town in Greater Manchester, and its name is a place name rather than a word that developed by ordinary usage. Its second element, "dale," is an old English term for a valley, while the first element comes from the River Roch that flows through the valley. The name therefore describes a place by its geography: the valley of the river. The name has changed considerably over the centuries. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the place appears as "Recedham," which seems to mean a homestead with a hall. By 1195 the spelling had become "Rachedal," and the modern form gradually took shape from there. The sense of the name shifted in that period: an earlier element meaning a settlement gave way to one describing the valley, so the name moved from naming a dwelling to naming a landscape.