Avonlea
/ˌævənˈliː/noun
A fictional village in Prince Edward Island, Canada, best known as the setting of Anne of Green Gables.
Did you know?Avonlea was coined by L. M. Montgomery for Anne of Green Gables, and its first element echoes Celtic river names like Avon, ultimately from a word meaning “river,” while the second element is commonly linked to Old English lēah, “clearing/meadow.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Celtic
PCelt
abona
“river”
Old Welsh / Brythonic
Celtic
afon
“river”
Old English
OE
lēah
“woodland clearing, meadow”
Late 19th Century
English
Avonlea
“a coined fictional place-name for a village”
Modern English
English
Avonlea
“the fictional village in Anne of Green Gables”