Gordon
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɡɔrdn̩/
ipa: /ˈɡɔːdn̩/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)dən
Forms: form: Gorden
Etymology: The main etymology, associated with Celtic names, is from the Scots surname Gordon, from a place name, but the origin is debated:
* If the English or Scots name is from a Brythonic language (such as Old Welsh or Old Breton), then possibly from a Proto-Brythonic compound such as *gor (“spacious”) + *din (“fort”);
* If the Scots name is itself from English, then possibly from French Gourdon, derived from Gallo-Roman Latin Gordus, from Gaulish *Gordos;
* Otherwise, possibly ultimately from Old English *gor-dūn (“mud hill”) whence a habitational name.
Senses: glosses: A Scottish habitational surname from the Celtic languages for someone from Gordon, Berwickshire.
glosses: An English habitational surname from Anglo-Norman for someone from Gourdon, France.
glosses: A habitational surname from Irish, an anglicization of de Górdún (“of Gordon (Berwickshire)”).
glosses: A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic], an adopted anglicization of Mag Mhuirneacháin (“son of Muirneachán”) (traditionally Magournahan).
examples: text: Mount, vassals, couch your lances, and cry, "Gordon!
Gordon for Scotland and Elizabeth!"
ref: 1822 Walter Scott, Poetical Works: Halidon Hill (Baudry's European Library, 1838), page 420
glosses: A Jewish habitational surname probably for someone from Grodno, Belarus.
examples: text: Often he wrote good ones on casual slips and fancied them his; names like Trevellyan or Montressor or Delancey, with musical prefixes; or a good, short, beautiful, but dignified name like "Gordon Dane". He liked that one. It suggested something.
ref: 1913, Harry Leon Wilson, Bunker Bean, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2008, →ISBN, page 13:
glosses: A male given name transferred from the surname.
glosses: A place name:
A village in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NT6443).
glosses: A place name:
A locale in Australia.
A suburb of Canberra; named for poet Adam Lindsay Gordon.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in Australia.
A suburb of Sydney in Ku-ring-gai council area, New South Wales.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in Australia.
A town in Victoria; named for early settler George Gordon.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in Australia.
A river in Tasmania, Australia.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in Australia.
A river in Western Australia, Australia; named for British statesman George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A town in Houston County, Alabama.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A city in Wilkinson County, Georgia; named for railroad official William Washington Gordon.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Crawford County, Illinois.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Butler County, Kansas.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Letcher County, Kentucky.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A township in Todd County, Minnesota.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A city in Sheridan County, Nebraska; named for early settler John Gordon.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A village in Darke County, Ohio; named for an early settler.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; named for judge David F. Gordon.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A minor city in Palo Pinto County, Texas.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A town in Ashland County, Wisconsin; named for fur trader Antoine Guerdon.
glosses: A place name:
A locale in the United States:
A town and census-designated place therein, in Douglas County, Wisconsin.
Derived terms: word: Gordon County
word: Gordon Hill
word: Gordon syndrome
word: Portgordon
word: Port Gordon
word: sine-Gordon equation
sense: given name diminutives
word: Gord
sense: given name diminutives
word: Gordie
sense: given name diminutives
word: Gordy
sense: given name diminutives
word: Gordo