York
/jɔːk/noun
A city in North Yorkshire, England, and the name of the surrounding historic county.
Did you know?The Viking form Jórvík helped give York its modern name, while the earlier Roman name Eboracum may preserve a Brittonic reference to yew trees or a person named Eburos.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Roman Britain
Brittonic
*Eburākon
“Probably “place associated with yew trees,” though some scholars interpret it as “Eburos’s place,” based on a personal name.”
1st Century CE
Latin
Eboracum
“The Roman name for the settlement established as a military base in northern Britain.”
7th Century
Old English
Eoforwic
““Boar settlement” or “boar dwelling,” an Old English reinterpretation of the earlier Brittonic-Roman name.”
9th–10th Century
Old Norse
Jórvík
“The Scandinavian form of the place-name, probably adapted from Eoforwic.”
Middle English
English
York
“The shortened English form that developed from the Norse and Old English name traditions.”
Modern English
English
York
“The modern city name, also used in titles and place-names derived from the city, including New York.”