Woburn

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city in eastern Massachusetts, north of Boston, known for its industrial history ; a village in Bedfordshire, England, home to a famous abbey and deer park
2. A town in the northeastern United States, located in Middlesex County Massachusetts ; a small English village in Bedfordshire that is the seat of the Duke of Bedford
3. A municipality in Massachusetts near Boston ; a rural English settlement in Bedfordshire noted for its stately abbey and safari park

Etymology: Woburn is an Old English place-name that describes a landscape. It combines "wōh", meaning "crooked" or "bent", with "burna", meaning "stream", so the name points to a winding watercourse. The town in Bedfordshire, England, appears in the Domesday Book under a spelling close to its modern form, which shows how long the name has been in use. The name later crossed the Atlantic. The American town of Woburn, Massachusetts, took its name from the English town. In England the name is also tied to Woburn Abbey, the country seat of the Dukes of Bedford.