Sheridan

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city in northeastern Wyoming, located in Sheridan County and serving as its county seat
2. A town in Wyoming situated in the northern part of the state, known as a regional commercial and cultural center
3. A Wyoming city in the north-central region of the state, named after a Civil War general and established as a frontier settlement

Etymology: Sheridan is an Irish surname, and its story is really the story of a family name rather than a common word. It derives from the Irish "Ó Sirideáin", meaning "descendant of Sirideán", a personal name that was then turned into a hereditary family name in the usual Irish fashion, with the prefix "Ó" (later often anglicised as "O'") marking the descent. Many Irish surnames were fixed in this way, and the English spelling reflects an anglicised rendering of the original Gaelic form. Because the name was carried abroad by Irish families, it became widely known outside Ireland. Its best-known bearer in English-speaking history is the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, whose surname now mostly calls to mind his name rather than any wider meaning. Its sense as a word has therefore stayed attached to people, not to ideas or objects.