c. 1000, Dunholm "city on a hill," a merger of Old English dun "hill" (see down (n.2)) and Scandinavian holmr (see holm). The change from -n- to -r- is a result of Norman confusion (see Shrewsbury). As a breed of short-horned cattle, by 1810, so called from being bred there.
"wild iris," c. 1000, from Latin gladiolus "wild iris, sword-lily," literally "small sword," diminutive of gladius "sword" (see gladiator); the plant so called by Pliny in reference to its sword-shaped leaves. The Old English form of the word was gladdon. Form gladiol is attested from mid-15c.; the modern use perhaps represents a 1560s reborrowing from Latin.
"religious song," c. 1000, from Old French ymne and Old English ymen, both from Late Latin hymnus "song of praise," from Greek hymnos "festive song or ode in praise of gods or heroes" (also sometimes of mournful songs), used in Septuagint to translate several Hebrew words meaning "song praising God." Possibly a variant of hymenaios "wedding song," from Hymen, Greek god of marriage, or, as per Watkins, from a PIE root *sam- "to sing" (source also of Hittite išhamai "he sings," Sanskrit saman- "hymn, song"). Evidence for the silent -n- dates from at least 1530.
English river running past Liverpool, c. 1000, Mærse, probably "boundary river," from Old English mæres (genitive singular of mære "boundary, object indicating a boundary;" see mere (n.2)) + ea "river." Related: Merseysider. Mersey beat, in reference to the popular music style associated with the Beatles, is by 1963.
name supposedly given by Leif Eriksson to lands he explored in northeastern North America c. 1000; it could mean either "vine-land" or "meadow-land," and either way was perhaps coined to encourage settlement (compare Greenland).
That others might have found the New World before Columbus was popular knowledge: Irving's "History of New York" (1809) lists Noah along with Phoenician, Carthaginian, Tyrean, Chinese, German, and Welsh candidates, along with "the Norwegians, in 1002, under Biorn." Evidence in the old sagas of a Norse discovery of North America had been noticed from time to time by those who could read them. In early 19c. the notion was seriously debated by von Humboldt and other European scholars before winning their general acceptance by the 1830s. The case for the identification of Vinland with North America began to be laid out in English-language publications in 1840. Lowell wrote a poem about it ("Hakon's Lay," 1855). Thoreau knew of it ("Ktaadn," 1864). Physical evidence of the Norse discovery was uncovered by the excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows in 1960.
zodiacal constellation, c. 1000, from Latin constellation name Virgo "the virgin" (see virgin). Meaning "person born under the sign of Virgo" is attested from 1917.
