Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• le Comyn Rune 1434 Asht

Etymology

Compton Rhine, le Comyn Rune 1434Asht 6. The el. Rhine is common in minor names in the marshlands of this and Lower Langley hundreds, but the names are usually without early spellings; Compton Rhine is the earliest recorded; the el. occurs again in 1650 in Ellinghurst Rhine (138 infra , where it is defined as 'a ditch' in 1699). The word is from OE  ryne 'flow of water', of which several early examples occur in Gl, Duddenwellerine (i, 191 supra ) in 1222, le Rene (iii, 97) in 1413, Runedich (ii, 234) in 1363; it is used in SW dialects in the forms rheen or rhine from 1698 (NED s.v.) for 'an open drain or ditch, esp. one made to drain marshland'. For Compton v. 106supra .