Etymology

Exeter

E1X8E1T1E1R1

Today it means: A city and local government district, the county town of Devon, in south-west England (OS grid ref SX9292). Full definition →

Middle English Excestre ← Old English Exanceaster
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromExanceaster
  2. Middle English · inherited fromExcestre
  3. English todayExeter

From Middle English Excestre, from Old English Exanceaster: Ex (“the river Exe”) + ċeaster (“fortified town”), 'the Roman city of Isca'.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.