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.

Plympton

Major Settlement in the Parish of Plympton St Mary

Historical Forms

  • Plymentun 904 BCS610 13th
  • Plimtun 1131 Earle
  • Plimton(a) t.Stephen BM 1219 FF
  • Plimpton 1225 Pat
  • Plym(p)ton 1244–62 Ipm
  • Plintona 1086 DB
  • Plinton 1179 P 1217 Pat 1238 Ass 1263 Ipm
  • Plumton(e) 1166 RBE 1245 Ipm 1263–73 BM
  • Plumpton 1238 Ass 1263 Ipm 1275 RH

Etymology

Ekwall (RN 328) takes this name to be a compound of OE  plȳme , 'plum-tree' and tun, the river-name Plym being a back- formation (v. supra 12). This is very probable, especially as there is no Celtic root from which the river-name could be derived.