Stillingfleet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A seventeenth-century English churchman and scholar who became Bishop of Worcester and defended Anglican doctrine
2. The surname of a 17th-century English theologian who wrote against Catholicism and Deism as Bishop of Worcester
3. Edward Stillingfleet was a 1600s English clergyman, scholar and bishop known for his theological writings and controversies

Etymology: Stillingfleet is primarily a surname and a place name, and the place comes first. The village of Stillingfleet lies in North Yorkshire, on the River Ouse south of York. Its name is most likely Old English, combining a personal name, probably "Stilla" or a similar one, with "fleot," a word for a creek or shallow inlet. The name thus probably meant something like "the inlet of Stilla's people." Families took the name from the village, and the best-known bearer was the theologian Edward Stillingfleet, who became bishop of Worcester. He is remembered mainly for his lengthy published dispute with the philosopher John Locke over religion and reason. Because the name is a surname, it is capitalised, and it has no everyday sense beyond the people and the place that carry it.