Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Kορίυιου c.150 Ptol

• Cironium c.650 RavGeog 13th

• Durocornovio 4 AntIt 8th

• Cirenceaster, æt Cirenceastre, to Cirenceastre 577,628,879,1880 ASC late9 ASC 879,880 c.1120

• Cirrenceastre, Cairceri 894 Asser

• Cair Ceri 11 Nennius

• Cirneceastre 628 ASC c.1120 KCD703 999 13th

• æt Cyrenceastre 1020 ASC e.12

• Cyrneceaster c.1000 KCD1312 13th

• on Cyrnceastre 1020 ASC c.1120

• Cirecestr(a)', Cyrecestr(a)' 1086 DB 1130–65 P 1221 Ass 1315 Ipm 1332–1413 Ch

• Cirencestr(e)', Cyrencestr(e)' 12 Tewk76d 1156 RBE 1174 Theok 1190 P 13 Misc 1211–13 Fees Hy3 Surv 1220 1221 Eyre 1223 Abbr 1759 PR

• Cyrencestr(e)' als. Cicestr(e), Cycestr(e) 1562,1566 FF

• Cycestr(e) als. Syssyter 1571 ib

• Cycestr(e) als. Ciciter 1577,1690 M

• Cycestr(e) vulgo Cissiter 1675 Ogilby

• Chiringecestre c.1270 Gerv

• Cycestre 1276 Misc

• Cicestre 1453 Pat

• Cicestre als. Cycyter 1570 FF

• Cirncestre 1290 Ipm

• Circestre 1317–46 Misc 1400–64 Pat

• Circetre 1394 FF 1406 Pat

• Sircestre 1408 Pat

• Surce(s)tre 1412–39 Pat

• Circetur 1494 FF

• Surencestre 1436 Pat

• Sirencestre, Syrencestre 1439,1476 Pat c.1560 Surv

• Sironcester 1716 PR

• Cisetur 1453 Pat

• Cicet(t)er c.1490 ECP 1718 PR

• Cyssetyr, Cyssetur 1491 Pat 1563 FF

• Cyciter 1587 FF

• Sissetur c.1500 ECP

• Sussetour c.1515 ib

• Sisator 1685 PR

• Trinyte house c.1560 Surv

Etymology

The name of Cirencester, like those of the R. Churn and South Cerney (58supra ) and North Cerney (148infra ), is connected with that of the great Roman station, Durocornovio in the Antonine Itinerary, and possibly that of the West Midland British tribe, the Cornovii , whose name is recorded in Civitas Cornov (iorum ) on an inscription at Wroxeter, their chief town (Jackson 377 note). The Roman town of Cirencester was actually in the territory of the Dobunni ; Ekwall (RN 79, EtymNotes 37) has suggested that either Cirencester was a colony of the Cornovii or that the Dobunni were a branch of the Cornovii . Neither of the oldest names, Korinion and Durocornovio , easily explains the OE  forms in Cyrn - or Cirn - (with a palatalised initial consonant). The presence of the initial palatalised consonant is proved by its retention in the r.n. Churn and by the French substitution in Cirencester and Cerney of c - [ts], later [s], which does not take place with OE c - [k] (cf. IPN 100–2); this removes any possibility of a change of Brit  *Corin - to PrOE  *curin - and cyren by OE i -mutation. Stevenson (Archaeologia lxix, 200–2) and Förster (Themse 299) take Ptolemy's Korinion to be the correct form; Stevenson assumed that by British i -affection this would give a form Cerin -; Ekwall (RN lxviii ff) regards this particular PrWelsh change as probably too late in operation to have affected the British name of Cirencester, which was in Saxon hands by 577, and proposes that affection caused by -j -, -ī -, which was lost, could take place earlier than that caused by an -i - which was retained as in Korinion .He therefore assumes that Korinion is an error for Kornion , a shortened form of Cornovion , which would become PrWelsh  *Cern - early enough to account for OE  Ciren -, etc. Jackson 613, 616 puts the period of internal i -affection after the 6th century in the north and after the early 8th in the south-west (cf. also Jackson 617 note).These various comments have of course assumed that with the Saxon capture of Cirencester in 577 an end was made of British speech in the region. Some doubt exists about Asser's Caer Ceri being strictly identical with the correct Welsh form of Cirencester; Ekwall thinks the name might have been confused with Kerry in Wales.

The meaning of the British name Cor (i )nion is uncertain. Ekwall suggested that it is from the tribal name Cornovii , which is to be connected with the root *korn - 'horn, horn of land', as in Cornwall (cf. Holder s.n. Cornovii ).

The PrOE  form *Cern (from *Cornion ) would by palatal influence give WSax  *Ciern , later OE  Cirn -, Cyrn -, with a svarabhakti vowel developing in the form Ciren -; Ekwall (EtymNotes 38) cites a good parallel to this in OE  cyrin , cerin 'churn' (a word which led, as he points out, to a curious Welsh  mistranslation of Cirencester as kaer vudei 'fort of the churn' from Welsh  buddai 'churn'). Alternatively if we have a PrWelsh  *cerin - (from Corinium ) the nexus e-i (which did not exist in PrOE) would have the regular OE  i-i substituted, giving OE  ciren -, late OE  cyren -. The OE compound with OE  ceaster 'Roman camp or town' is a normal type with the names of Romano- British towns, as in Gloucester (ii, 123infra ).

It should be noted that the current local form of the name is a spelling-pronunciation; the reputed pronunciation [ˈsisitə] is not used nowadays, though it was a common form from the 14th century and still finds a place in some pronouncing dictionaries and hence in some non-local learned society.