Dumfries

D2U1M3F4R1I1E1S1
/dʊmˈfɹiːs-ˈfɹiːz/

proper noun

A town in Dumfries and Galloway council area, Scotland, and the former county town of Dumfriesshire (OS grid ref NX9776).

OriginScottish Gaelic Dùn Phris →
Less commonScrabble 14
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A town in Dumfries and Galloway council area, Scotland, and the former county town of Dumfriesshire (OS grid ref NX9776).
  2. A community and parish in York County, New Brunswick, Canada.
  3. A town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States.

Origin

  1. Scottish GaelicDùn Phris“Fort of the Thicket”
  2. EnglishDumfries

From Scottish Gaelic Dùn Phris (“Fort of the Thicket”), from dùn (“fortress”) + *phris, lenited genitive of preas (“thicket”).

More words from Scottish Gaelic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Dumfries. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dumfries

MLA

“Dumfries.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dumfries. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dumfries,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dumfries.

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