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.

Weam Common Hill, Weam Coppice

Other OS name in the Parish of Cerne Abbas

Historical Forms

  • Weamehill Jas1 TRMB 1617 Add
  • Weam hill, Middle Weam 1844 TA

Etymology

, Weamehill Jas 1TRMB , 1617Add , Weam hill , Middle Weam 1844TA , probably a figurative application of eModE dial . weam ' belly ' ( originally a Northern form of womb , but ' in the 17th cent , the dial . word seems to have been adopted ( in the forms wem , wemb , weamb ) in southern use as a jocular substitute for “ belly ” ' ( NED s.v. wame 2 ) .