Yorktown

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic town on the York River in Virginia where British forces under Cornwallis surrendered in 1781 ; a colonial port settlement on the York River that is now a preserved historic site
2. A small town on the York River in Virginia, famous as the place where Cornwallis surrendered in 1781 ; a historic colonial waterfront community now preserved as a national historic site
3. A Virginia riverside town best known for the 1781 British surrender that effectively ended the American Revolutionary War ; an old colonial port now maintained as a heritage park

Etymology: Yorktown is a proper noun, so its history is a matter of naming rather than of language change. The town in Virginia takes its name from York, the English city that gave the name to the county it sits in, and "town" was added in the usual way for a settlement. The county was named for the English city, and the town was then named for the county, so the name passed from a Yorkshire city to an American county and only then to a town. The name's most famous moment came in 1781, when the surrender of British forces there ended the decisive campaign of the American Revolution. Because of that event, the name is often recalled more for the battle than for the naming story behind it.