Wilmington

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city in northern Delaware on the Delaware River, known as a major industrial and corporate center ; a port city on the Cape Fear River in southeastern North Carolina ; a town in northeastern Massachusetts in Middlesex County ; a port city in southern California near Los Angeles ; a small city in southwestern Ohio in Clinton County
2. The largest city in Delaware, located along the Delaware River ; a coastal city in southeastern North Carolina on the Cape Fear River ; a New England town in Massachusetts northwest of Boston ; a harbor city in southern California near Los Angeles ; a community in southwestern Ohio in Clinton County
3. A Delaware city on the Delaware River known for corporate business ; a Cape Fear River port in southeastern North Carolina ; a northeastern Massachusetts town in Middlesex County ; a southern California harbor city near Los Angeles ; a small Clinton County city in Ohio

Etymology: Wilmington is a place name, and its parts are readable once you know the personal name at its heart. The first element is "Wilhelm," the Germanic name that gave English "William," and the middle element is the Old English suffix "-ing," which meant "belonging to" or "the people of." The last element, "tūn," meant a homestead or enclosed settlement, the same word that later became "town." Put together, the name means something like "Wilhelm's homestead" or "the estate of Wilhelm." The place-name pattern is common in England, where a personal name plus "-ing" plus "-tūn" marks a settlement founded or held by a named man. The name shows how early English communities were often identified by their original owner or founder rather than by any feature of the landscape. Wilhelm himself is a Germanic name built from words meaning "will" and "helmet," so the place carries a name that was once a personal wish for protection.