Thornbury

T1H4O1R1N1B3U1R1Y4

proper noun

A village and civil parish in Torridge district, Devon (OS grid ref SS4008).

OriginOld English þorn →
UncommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

proper nounThornbury (countable and uncountable, plural Thornburys)

plural Thornburys · alternative Thornberry

  1. A placename:
    1. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Torridge district, Devon (OS grid ref SS4008).
    2. countableuncountableA village and civil parish (served by Thornbury Group Parish Council) in northern Herefordshire (OS grid ref SO6259).
    3. countableuncountableA market town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref ST6390).
    4. countableuncountableA suburb of Bradford, West Yorkshire (OS grid ref SE1933).
    5. countableuncountableA suburb of Melbourne in the City of Darebin, Victoria, Australia.
    6. countableuncountableA township in Southland, New Zealand.
    7. countableuncountableA community and former town in the town of Blue Mountains, Grey County, Ontario, Canada.
    8. countableuncountableA township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States.
    9. countableuncountableA township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. These two townships adjoin each other, and were originally one township until 1798.
  2. countableA habitational surname from Old English.

Origin

  1. Old Englishþorn“thorn”
  2. EnglishThornbury

From Old English þorn (“thorn”) + byriġ, the dative case of burg (“fortified place”).

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Thornbury. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Thornbury

MLA

“Thornbury.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Thornbury. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Thornbury,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Thornbury.

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