Selby

S1E1L1B3Y4
/ˈsɛlbi/

proper noun

A town and civil parish with a town council in North Yorkshire, England, historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire (OS grid ref SE6132).

OriginOld Norse selja →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

proper nounSelby (countable and uncountable, plural Selbys)

plural Selbys

  1. countableuncountableA town and civil parish with a town council in North Yorkshire, England, historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire (OS grid ref SE6132).
  2. countableuncountableA former local government district in North Yorkshire headquartered in the town, formed in 1974 and abolished in 2023 without replacement.
  3. countableuncountableA village in the town of Greater Napanee, Ontario, Canada.
  4. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Contra Costa County, California, United States.
  5. countableuncountableA township in Bureau County, Illinois, United States.
  6. countableuncountableA small city, the county seat of Walworth County, South Dakota, United States.
  7. countableuncountableA suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa.
  8. countableuncountableA suburb of Melbourne in the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Victoria, Australia.
  9. countableuncountableA habitational surname from Old Norse.
  10. countableuncountableA unisex given name transferred from the surname.

Origin

  1. Old Norseselja“willow, sallow”
  2. EnglishSelby

From Old Norse selja (“willow, sallow”) + býr (“settlement, farm”).

More words from Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

BylesElsby
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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