wells
/wɛlz/ proper noun
Also a form of well
Forms Wels
- proper noun An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone living near a well or a spring.
- proper noun A male given name transferred from the surname.
- proper noun A small cathedral city and civil parish with a city council in Somerset, England, previously in Mendip district (OS grid ref ST5445).
- proper noun A small town in Norfolk, England; in full, Wells-next-the-Sea.
- proper noun A town in the Cariboo Regional District, British Columbia, Canada.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Pipe Creek Township, Miami County, Indiana; named for founder James Oscar Wells.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Ottawa County, Kansas.
- proper noun A town in York County, Maine; named for the city in England.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Old English wella, genitive plural of well (“spring”), in reference to a residence near a group of springs. The original use of the genitive case here would've indicated origin. The -s ending of the modern form would be added later on upon reanalysis after the breakdown of the case system (outside of pronouns) that occurred in the development of English.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “wells”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details