Strathclyde

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A former British kingdom of the Britons in what is now southwestern Scotland ; a historic region and council area of western Scotland ; a well-known university based in the city of Glasgow ; a constituency returning members to the Scottish Parliament
2. An early medieval Brittonic realm in southwest Scotland ; the modern Scottish region and local government area in the west of the country ; the Glasgow institution of higher learning founded in the nineteenth century ; an electoral district for the Scottish legislature
3. A kingdom of ancient Britons once centred in southwest Scotland ; the western Scottish region and council area bearing this name ; a Glasgow university known for science and technology ; a Scottish Parliament electoral seat

Etymology: Strathclyde takes its name from a river valley, and the river itself has an older name than the region. The Clyde was known to the British-speaking people of the area as "Clud," and the Cumbric word "strat" meant a broad valley, so together they described the land along the river's course. The Scottish Gaelic form "Srath Chluaidh" translates directly as "valley of the Clyde." The English spelling is an adaptation of that Gaelic phrase, with the Gaelic "srath" rendered as "strath," the familiar Scottish term for a wide, flat river valley. The Gaelic and the Cumbric share the same underlying idea, so the name records a shift in language rather than a change of landscape. The region took its identity from the river that runs through it, rather than the reverse.