Etymology

Kirkwall

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Today it means: A town in and the administrative centre of the Orkney Islands council area, Scotland. Full definition →

Scots Kirkwaa ← Norn Kirkavå ← Old Norse Kirkjuvágr
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The story

  1. Old Norse · derived fromKirkjuvágr
  2. Norn · derived fromKirkavå
  3. Scots · borrowed fromKirkwaa
  4. English todayKirkwall

A folk-etymological alteration of Scots Kirkwaa, from Norn Kirkavå (literally “church bay”), from Old Norse Kirkjuvágr.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.