Hampshire
UK /ˈhæmpʃɪə/ · US /ˈhæmpʃɪɹ/ proper noun, noun
Forms Hampshires
- proper noun A maritime county in the south of England, United Kingdom bordered by Berkshire, Surrey, West Sussex, Dorset, Wiltshire, the English Channel and the Solent separating it from the Isle of Wight; the county town is Winchester.
- proper noun A community and rural municipality in Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
- proper noun A locality in Burnie City council area and the Waratah-Wynyard council area, north western Tasmania, Australia.
- proper noun A surname.
- noun A pig of a domestic breed characterized by erect ears, a black body, and a white band around the middle, covering the front legs.
Synonyms
County of Southampton Hamptonshire Hants Southamptonshire Hampshire down
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English Hampteschire, from Old English Hāmtūnsċīr, from Hāmtūn (“Southampton”) + sċīr (“shire”).
For the development of epenthetic /p/, compare Thompson.
The community in Prince Edward Island is named after the county in England. The name was inspired by nearby Wiltshire.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Hampshire”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details