Southbury

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A town located in southwestern Connecticut in the New England region of the United States
2. A municipality situated in the state of Connecticut in New England, known for its suburban character and residential communities
3. A New England town in Connecticut notable as a residential area in the southwestern part of the state

Etymology: Southbury is a place name rather than a common word, and its history is simply that of its two parts. "South" is the ordinary English compass word, while "bury" comes from Old English "burh," meaning a fortified town or stronghold, which later softened into the familiar "-bury" ending found in countless English town names. Put together, the name means something like "the southern fortified settlement," probably a town marked out as lying south of some neighbouring place of the same name. The name is best understood as one of a family of doublets. Southborough, Sudborough, and Sudbury are close relatives, each drawing on the same pattern of a compass direction joined to "burh" or "borough," with "Sud-" being an older variant of "south." Different spellings developed in different districts over the centuries, so the same underlying name ended up on several places across England.