Ekwall's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names was first published in 1936, and has become the standard work of reference on English place-name etymology. This edition, the fourth, gives the historical and modern forms of over 10,000 place-names, together with explanations of their meaning. The dictionary embraces names of the country, of the counties and other important divisions, towns, parishes, villages and some names of estates and hamlets, even farms whose names are old and etymologically interesting, rivers, lakes - also names of capes, hills and bays for which early material is available. The Introduction explains the principles guiding research into place-names, and describes the various threads - English, Celtic, Scandinavian, Latin and French - that make uo the pattern in England. It also points out how a study of place-names can enhance our historical sense of an area by providing us with information about such matters as antiquities, religious beliefs, folklore, changes in population, and social conditions in population, and social conditions generally. -- Inside cover.