English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Pinn

Early-attested site in the Parish of Otterton

Historical Forms

  • Penna 1254,1325 Ass
  • atte Pynne 1330 SR
  • Punne 1336,1339 Ass
  • Pynne 1481 FF

Etymology

This is probably the word found in Pinhoe supra 443, though the spellings with u suggest later confusion with OE  pynd , 'enclosure' (v. Piend supra 151).The name would refer to the conspicuous hill called Pinn Beacon.