eldertongue

Old English · suffix

-stow

Normalised -stōw

Part of speech
suffix, feminine
Declension
strong ō-stem
IPA
/ˌstoːw/
Syllables
ˌstoːw (1 syllable)
Modern English
placenamesprovenancefoundjurisdiction

Meaning

  1. suffix found in many placenames denoting "place" or "place of"

    Bryċġstōw

    Bristol; literally: the place by the bridge

  2. place, area; provenance of, office of, jurisdiction of

    folcstōw

    a place in the country

Declension

Declension of -stow
SingularPlural
Nominative -stōw-stōwa-stōwe
Accusative -stōwe-stōwa-stōwe
Genitive -stōwe-stōwa
Dative -stōwe-stōwum

All forms (4)

Etymology

From stōw (“place”), from Proto-Germanic *stōō (“place”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂w- (“to set, place”), from *steh₂- (“to stand”). Akin to Old Norse -stó (“place of”), Old Frisian stō (“place”), Gothic (stōjan, “to judge, place”). Compare the similar usage in forming toponyms in the cognate Indo-Iranian suffix -stan. See also stow.

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-stow · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution