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.

Edington

Major Settlement in the Parish of Edington

Historical Forms

  • (æt) Eðandune 880–5 BCS553 c.1000
  • Eþandun 878 ASC c.890
  • Eðandun 957 BCS1347
  • Ethandun c.1000 Asser
  • Edendone 1086 DB
  • Edendon(a) t.Hy3 Edington 1257 For
  • Edindun 1236 FF
  • Edyndon 1272 Misc
  • Edindon(e) 1275 RH 1289 FF 1297 Pat
  • Edynton 1361 FF
  • Edyngdon(e) 1291 Tax 1327 SR 1392 Pat 1398 BM 1512 Rental
  • Edyngdoun 1386 Cl
  • Edyngton 1428 FA
  • Eddington 1546 LP

Etymology

Ekwall (DEPN s. n .) takes the first element of this name to be the OE  word ēþe , found once and cognate with ON  auðr , OHG odi (German öde ). The sense would then be 'waste, bare or uncultivated hill or downland,' v. dun . The place lies just below the chalk downs of the Plain. The name may equally well be derived from the pers. name Ēda recorded in the 8th century.