Sowerby

S1O1W4E1R1B3Y4

proper noun

A hamlet in Inskip-with-Sowerby parish, Wyre district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD4738).

OriginOld Norse saurr →
UncommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

proper nounSowerby (countable and uncountable, plural Sowerbys)

plural Sowerbys

  1. A placename:
    1. countableuncountableA hamlet in Inskip-with-Sowerby parish, Wyre district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD4738).
    2. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Hambleton district, North Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE4381).
    3. countableuncountableA village in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE0423).
  2. countableA habitational surname from Old Norse.

Origin

  1. Old Norsesaurr“mud, dirt, sour ground”
  2. EnglishSowerby

From Old Norse saurr (“mud, dirt, sour ground”) + bý (“farmstead”).

More words from Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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