Ruthin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A market town in northeast Wales that serves as the county town of Denbighshire and lies in the Clwyd valley
2. A small Welsh town in Denbighshire, northeast Wales, which acts as the administrative centre of that county
3. The historic market town in the Clwyd valley of North Wales, serving as the county seat of Denbighshire

Etymology: Ruthin is the English spelling of the Welsh "Rhuthun," the name of a market town in Denbighshire, in northeast Wales. The English form drops the Welsh digraph "Rh," which stands for a voiceless r, a sound English speakers rarely hear at the start of a word. Anyone reading the name aloud in English therefore gets a sound the Welsh original does not have. The name is a place-name, so it was formed as a label for a settlement rather than as a common word, and its meaning is uncertain. Its origin lies in medieval Welsh usage, and the town's name has long been fixed in both languages. Because it is a proper noun, "Ruthin" is capitalised in both English and Welsh.