London

English

Wikivoyage

The Palace of Westminster, London, England

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Celtic *Londinyomder.?

Latin Londiniumder.?

Old English Lunden

Middle English Londene

Middle English Londoun

English London

From Middle English Londoun, from Old English Lunden, from Proto-Celtic via Latin Londinium – see for details. Doublet of Londinium.

Pronunciation

• enPR: lŭn'dən, IPA^(key): /ˈlʌn.dən/
• (dialectal) enPR: lŭ'nən, IPA^(key): /ˈlʌ.nən/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈlʊn.dən/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌndən

Proper noun

London (countable and uncountable, plural Londons)

2. The capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London. Situated on the tidal River Thames in southeast England, with a metropolitan population of more than 13,000,000.
   • 2022 October 12, Bernardine Evaristo, “Read Your Way Through London”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 May 2023:

     An eccentric city with a live-and-let-live vibe, London is a place where people can be free to be themselves, find the communities to which they belong and write whatever they want. There are, in a sense, many Londons for writers to explore.

3. A former administrative county of England, created in 1889 from parts of Kent, Middlesex and Surrey, and merged into Greater London in 1965.
4. (metonymic) The government of the United Kingdom, otherwise known as Westminster.
5. A city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a population of approximately 300,000.
6. A small agricultural village in the commune of Savigny-sur-Seille, Saône-et-Loire department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, France.
7. A village in Kiritimati atoll, Kiribati.
   • 1993, Derek A. Scott, “A DIRECTORY OF WETLANDS IN OCEANIA”, in Wetlands International‎^[2], archived from the original on 30 August 2018, page 188:

     The principal economic activity is copra production, the Government copra plantation covering some 5,170 ha. The population in 1989 was estimated at 2,000, the great majority of whom live in London, Banana and Poland villages in the west.

8. An urban neighborhood of the city of Belgrade, Serbia.
9. Several places in the United States:
   1. A small city in Pope County, Arkansas, with a population of approximately 900.
   2. A census-designated place in Tulare County, California, with a population of approximately 1,800.
   3. An unincorporated community in Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana.
   4. A city, the county seat of Laurel County, Kentucky, with a population of approximately 8,000.
   5. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Monroe County, Michigan.
   6. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Freeborn County, Minnesota.
   7. A city, the county seat of Madison County, Ohio, with a population of approximately 9,000.
   8. An unincorporated community in Kimble County, Texas, with a population of approximately 180.
   9. An unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
   10. An unincorporated community in Dane County and Jefferson County, Wisconsin.
10. A habitational surname for someone from London.
11. (rare) A unisex given name transferred from the place name.
    • 2012, Louise Erdrich, The Round House, Corsair, published 2013, →ISBN, page 178:

      Sonja made me promise I would go to college. She said she'd wanted her daughter, Murphy, to go. She'd named her baby Murphy because it could never be a stripper name. But her daughter had changed her name to London.

Synonyms

in the United Kingdom

• Eine
• Londongrad
• Londonistan
• Moscow-on-Thames
• Rum-ville
• the Big Smoke
• the Great Wen
• the Smoke

Derived terms

• Central London
• City of London
• County of London
• East London
• Greater London
• Inner London
• Little London
• London Bridge
• London broil
• London bus
• London-by-the-sea
• London-centric
• London City
• London Colney
• Londonderry
• London dispersion force
• Londoner
• Londonese
• Londonesque
• London Fields
• London fog
• Londonful
• Londongrad
• London Grove
• Londoniana
• Londonish
• Londonism
• Londonistan
• londonite
• Londonite
• Londonization
• Londonize
• London Lakes
• London moment
• London-on-sea
• London paste
• Londonphile
• London plane
• London pride
• London rocket
• Londonshire
• London sink
• London smoke
• London to a brick
• London Town
• London tuft
• London Underground
• Londonward
• Londonwards
• London weighting
• Londonwide
• Londony
• Lord Mayor of London
• Loxbridge
• Multicultural London English (MLE)
• New London
• NyLon
• Nylonkong
• Outer London
• Tower of London

Descendants

• → Chinese: 倫敦 / 伦敦 (Lúndūn)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: London

Translations

See London/translations § Proper noun.

See also

• Cockney
• the City

References

• Jespersen, Otto (1909), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎^[3], volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 7.72, page 222.
• 2003, A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place-Names, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
• Report on the Kiribati 2015 Census of Population and Housing

Further reading

• “London”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “London”, in Merriam-Webster Online, Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1996–present.
• “London”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “London”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
• London in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• London in the Encyclopædia Britannica (12th edition, 1922)

Anagrams

• Donlon, nonold

Azerbaijani

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Danish

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔndə(n)/

Proper noun

London n

1. London (a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada)

Usage notes

The city in England, capital of England and the United Kingdom, is invariably named Londen in Dutch. The spelling “London” is used for other cities, such as London, Ontario.

Estonian

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Faroese

Proper noun

London ?

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔndɔn/ (most common)
• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔndn̩/ (particularly Swiss; also elsewhere, but often perceived as affected)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

London n (proper noun, genitive Londons or (optionally with an article) London)

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlondon]
• Hyphenation: Lon‧don
• Rhymes: -on

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	London	—
accusative	Londont	—
dative	Londonnak	—
instrumental	Londonnal	—
causal-final	Londonért	—
translative	Londonná	—
terminative	Londonig	—
essive-formal	Londonként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Londonban	—
superessive	Londonon	—
adessive	Londonnál	—
illative	Londonba	—
sublative	Londonra	—
allative	Londonhoz	—
elative	Londonból	—
delative	Londonról	—
ablative	Londontól	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	Londoné	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	Londonéi	—

Possessive forms of London

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Londonom	—
2nd person sing.	Londonod	—
3rd person sing.	Londonja	—
1st person plural	Londonunk	—
2nd person plural	Londonotok	—
3rd person plural	Londonjuk	—

Derived terms

• londoni

Middle English

Proper noun

London

1. alternative form of Londoun

Norwegian Bokmål

The City of London viewed from the balcony at City Hall.

Etymology

From English London, from Middle English London (“London”), from Old English Lunden (“London”), a borrowing from Latin Londinium (“London”), likely from Proto-Celtic *Londinjon (“place that floods”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“to sink; subdue”) - see the Latin entry for details.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔndɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔn
• Hyphenation: Lon‧don

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England) with a metropolitan population of more than 13,000,000.

   London ligger på begge sider av elven Themsen i Sørøst-England.

   London is located on both sides of the River Thames in the South East of England.

2. London (a former administrative county of England), created in 1889 from parts of Kent, Middlesex and Surrey, and merged into Greater London in 1965.
3. (figuratively) The government of the United Kingdom.
4. London (a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada), with a population of approximately 300,000.
5. London (a small agricultural village in the commune of Savigny-sur-Seille, Saône-et-Loire department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, France)
6. London (a village in Kiritimati atoll, Kiribati)
7. London (an urban neighborhood of the city of Belgrade, Serbia)
8. Several places in the United States:
   1. London (a small city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States), with a population of approximately 900.
   2. London (a census-designated place in Tulare County, California, United States)
   3. London (an unincorporated community in Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana, United States)
   4. London (a city, the county seat of Laurel County, Kentucky, United States), with a population of approximately 8,000.
   5. London (an unincorporated community in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States)
   6. London (a city, the county seat of Madison County, Ohio, United States), with a population of approximately 9,000.
   7. London (a small city in California, United States), with a population of approximately 1,800.
   8. London (an unincorporated community in Kimble County, Texas, United States), with a population of approximately 180.
   9. London (an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States)
   10. London (an unincorporated community in Dane County and Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States)

Derived terms

• londonbasar
• londoner
• londonkraft
• londonsk
• Stor-London

References

• “London” in Store norske leksikon
• “London (Canada)” in Store norske leksikon

Norwegian Nynorsk

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Derived terms

• londonar
• Stor-London

Portuguese

Proper noun

London ?

1. London (a city in Ontario, Canada)
2. (rare) synonym of Londres

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lǒndoːn/
• Hyphenation: Lon‧don

Proper noun

Lòndōn m inan (Cyrillic spelling Ло̀ндо̄н)

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Declension

Declension of London

	singular
nominative	Lòndōn
genitive	Londóna
dative	Londónu
accusative	Lòndōn
vocative	Lȍndōne
locative	Londónu
instrumental	Londónom

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ̀ːndɔn/

Proper noun

Lóndon m inan

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nominative	Lóndon
genitive	Lóndona
	singular
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	Lóndon
genitive (rodȋlnik)	Lóndona
dative (dajȃlnik)	Lóndonu
accusative (tožȋlnik)	Lóndon
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	Lóndonu
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	Lóndonom

Derived terms

• Lóndončan / Lóndončanka
• lóndonski

References

• “London”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “London”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔndɔn/

Proper noun

London n (genitive Londons)

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Derived terms

• londonsk
• Storlondon

Tatar

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)

Declension

Declension of London

nominative	London
genitive	Londonnıñ
dative	Londonga
accusative	Londonnı
locative	Londonda
ablative	Londondan

Uzbek

Proper noun

London

1. London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London)