# Adrian Room

Adrian Richard West Room (27 September 1933, Melksham – 6 November 2010, Stamford, Lincolnshire) was a British toponymist and onomastician, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a prolific author of reference works relating primarily to the origins of words and place-names.
Between 1952 and 1979, Room served in the Royal Naval Reserve, Special Branch, retiring as a lieutenant commander. Before becoming a full-time author, he was employed at King's College School, Cambridge, where he taught modern languages and was a senior house master. He later, until 1984, worked as a senior lecturer in Russian for the Ministry of Defence.

## Selected publications

* Place-Names of the World. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974.
* Place-name changes since 1900: A world gazetteer. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980. ISBN 0710007027
* Naming Names: Stories of Pseudonyms and Name Changes with a Who's Who. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981. ISBN 0710009208
* Dictionary of Trade Name Origins. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982. ISBN 0710008392
* Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable. 2000. (Editor) ISBN 9780304350964
* Cassell's Foreign Words and Phrases. London: Cassell & Co., 2000. ISBN 0304350087
* A. to Z. of British Life
* Dictionary of Confusable Words
* Bloomsbury Dictionary of Place Names in the British Isles
* A Dictionary of True Etymologies
* Who's Who in Classical Mythology
* Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (This edition published after his death)
* Cassell's Dictionary of Word Histories
* Dictionary of Irish Place Names
* Cassell's Dictionary of First Names
* The Guinness Book of Numbers
* Room's Dictionary of distinguishables
* Ntc's Dictionary of Changes in Meaning
* The Fascinating Origins of Everyday Words
* Brewer's dictionary of names
* Tuttle dictionary of dedications
* Room's Dictionary of Differences
* Concise dictionary of word origins
* Ntc's Dictionary of Word Origins
* Dictionary of Confusing Words and Meanings
* Dunces, Gourmands & Petticoats
* Cassell Dictionary of Proper Names
* A Concise Dictionary of Modern Place Names in Great Britain and Ireland
* Dictionary of Changes in Meaning
* Nicknames of Places: Origins And Meanings of the Alternate And Secondary
* Dictionary of Coin Names. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987. ISBN 0710206461
* African Placenames
* Dictionary of Translated Names and Titles
* Dictionary of Cryptic Crossword Clues
* Dictionary of Dedications
* Room's Classical Dictionary
* The Street Names of England
* The Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Confusible Words
* Dictionary of Astronomical Names
* A dictionary of contrasting pairs
* The Naming of Animals
* A Dictionary of Art Titles
* Guide to British Place Names
* Dictionary of World Place-names Derived from English Names
* The Pronunciation of Placenames: A Worldwide Dictionary
* Dictionary of place-names in the British Isles
* A Dictionary of Music Titles
* Alternate Names of Places: A Worldwide Dictionary
* Ntc's Dictionary of Trade Name Origins
* Placenames of France
* Bloomsbury Dictionary of Dedications
* Literally Entitled
* Encyclopedia of corporate names worldwide
* Ntc's Classical Dictionary
* Cassell's Dictionary of Modern American History
* Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of First Names
* The Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Place Names
* Placenames of Russia and the Former Soviet Union
* Room's Dictionary of Distinguishables and Confusibles
* An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies
* Dictionary Of British Place Names