Lancaster
/ˈlæŋ.kæ.stər/noun
A city and historic county town in northwest England, and a surname and place name derived from it.
Did you know?Lancaster comes from a Roman fort on the River Lune, with the second half preserving the Old English word for a fortified place, so the name literally locks a landscape into memory.
Etymological Timeline
Roman Britain
Latin
Lune castra
“the fort on the River Lune”
Old English
OE
Loncastre
“the Roman fort or settlement at Lancaster”
Middle English
ME
Lancastre
“the place-name and later surname”
Modern English
English
Lancaster
“the city, county town, and surname”
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