Meanings
- A market town and civil parish with a town council in Northumberland, England; historically the county town of Hexhamshire (OS grid ref NY9363).
- A suburb of the City of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Origin
- Old Englishhagosteald“owner of a fenced-in plot of land, one living in his lord's house, an unmarried man, bachelor, young warrior”
- Old EnglishHagustaldes“Hagustald's”
- Old EnglishHagustaldeshām“Hexham”
- Middle EnglishHestaldesham
- Middle EnglishHexham
- EnglishHexham
From Middle English Hexham, a contraction of Middle English Hestaldesham, Exseldesham, Extoldesham, Hestalasham, Hestoldesham, all variants of Old English Hagustaldeshām (“Hexham”), from Old English Hagustaldes (“Hagustald's”, personal name), from Old English hagosteald (“owner of a fenced-in plot of land, one living in his lord's house, an unmarried man, bachelor, young warrior”) + hām (“home, village, farmstead”). Compare also Hagustaldesēa (“Hexham”, literally “Hagustald's Island”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Hexham. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hexham
“Hexham.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hexham. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hexham,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hexham.
Source: Hexham on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.