Bedford

Bed·ford
B3E1D2F4O1R1D2
UK/ˈbɛdfə(ɹ)d/

proper noun

A market town, the county town of Bedfordshire, England.

OriginMiddle English Bedforde ← Old English Bedaford →
CommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

proper nounBedford (countable and uncountable, plural Bedfords)

plural Bedfords

  1. A place name:
    1. countableuncountableA market town, the county town of Bedfordshire, England.
    2. countableuncountableA local government district with borough status in Bedfordshire, England.
    3. countableuncountableA suburb of Leigh, Wigan borough, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SJ6799).
    4. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Lawrence County, Indiana.
    5. countableuncountableA small city, the county seat of Taylor County, Iowa.
    6. countableuncountableA small city, the county seat of Trimble County, Kentucky.
    7. countableuncountableA town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
    8. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Livingston County, Missouri.
    9. countableuncountableA town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.
    10. countableuncountableA town, hamlet, and census-designated place in Westchester County, New York.
    11. countableuncountableA city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
    12. countableuncountableA borough, the county seat of Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
    13. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Bedford County, Tennessee.
    14. countableuncountableA city in Tarrant County, Texas.
    15. countableuncountableA town, the county seat of Bedford County, Virginia.
    16. countableuncountableA census-designated place in Lincoln County, Wyoming.
    17. countableuncountableA number of townships in the United States, listed under Bedford Township.
    18. countableuncountableA district of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
    19. countableuncountableA civil parish of Queens County, Prince Edward Island.First known use 1765
    20. countableuncountableA city and township in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality, Quebec.
    21. countableuncountableA town in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
    22. countableuncountableA suburb of Perth in the City of Bayswater, Western Australia, Australia; named after Frederick Bedford.
    23. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Bedford Township
    24. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Bedford County
  2. countableuncountableAn English dukedom.
  3. countableuncountableA surname.
nounBedford (plural Bedfords)

plural Bedfords

  1. A truck, van, and bus and coach chassis formerly manufactured by the Bedford company, a subsidiary company of Vauxhall Motors.

    New Zealand Railways Road Services used to operate a large fleet of Bedfords.

Origin

  1. Old EnglishBedaford
  2. Middle EnglishBedforde
  3. EnglishBedford

From Middle English Bedforde, Bedeford, from Old English Bedaford, Bedanford, equivalent to Bede's + ford. The civil parish is named after John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710 - 1771). Coined by British-Dutch surveyor Samuel Holland.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Bedford. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bedford

MLA

“Bedford.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bedford. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bedford,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bedford.

Source: Bedford on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.