Winchester

W4I1N1C3H4E1S1T1E1R1
/ˈwɪnt͡ʃɛstə(ɹ)//ˈwɪnt͡ʃɪstə(ɹ)/

proper noun

A local government district with borough status in Hampshire; in full, the City of Winchester.

CommonScrabble 18

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A city in and the county town of Hampshire, England.
    1. A local government district with borough status in Hampshire; in full, the City of Winchester.
    2. UKabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Winchester College, a prestigious public school in Winchester.
  2. Any of the towns named after it, including:
    1. A home rule city, the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky.
    2. A town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

      Newton joins Brookline and a dozen other towns that have adopted similar bans, including Belchertown, Chelsea, Concord, Malden, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Melrose, Needham, Pelham, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield, and Winchester, according to the state Department of Public Health.

      2025 January 22, Nick Stoico, “Newton city council approves generational tobacco ban, joining other Mass. towns”, in Boston Globe, archived from the original on 23 Jan 2025
    3. A township in Norman County, Minnesota, named after Winchester, Iowa.
    4. A township and village therein, in Adams County, Ohio, named after Winchester, Virginia.
    5. The First, Second, or Third Battle of Winchester in the American Civil War.
    6. A former rural municipality in Manitoba, Canada, now part of Deloraine-Winchester.
    7. A village in North Dundas township, eastern Ontario, Canada.
    8. A small town in Timaru district, Canterbury, New Zealand.
  3. A habitational surname from Old English.
nounWinchester (plural Winchesters)

plural Winchesters

  1. A Winchester rifle, typically a lever-action repeater.

    H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines "Give me my express," I said, laying down the Winchester, and he handed it to me cocked.

    1 more example

    Almost simultaneously Jim Taylor and Kit Hunter shot at each other with Winchesters.

    2008, James M. Smallwood, The Feud That Wasn't, page 167

    Synonyms: Win

  2. A bottle holding a Winchester quart.
  3. datedcomputingA hard disk.

    And besides, Winchesters of the nonremovable sort work fine—why bother complicating things with cartridges[…]

    1984 February 7, PC Mag, volume 3, number 2, page 234

    Synonyms: Winchester disk

  4. aeronauticsOut of ordinance.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA Winchester rifle, typically a lever-action repeater.

Similar

nounA hard disk.

Origin

  1. Latincastra“camp”
  2. Old Englishċeaster
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁wen-“place (?)”
  4. Proto-Celtic*wentā“town, place”
  5. LatinVenta Belgārum
  6. Old EnglishWintanċeaster
  7. Middle EnglishWynchester
  8. EnglishWinchester

From Middle English Wynchester, Winchestre, from Old English Wintanċeaster, from Latin Venta Belgārum (literally “Venta of the Belgae”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Celtic *wentā (“town, place”), Proto-Indo-European *h₁wen- (“place (?)”) + Old English ċeaster, from Latin castra (“camp”). The bottle is named for the former customary units of the English city. The rifle is named after American businessman Oliver Winchester (1810–1880). The computer disk is named for the rifle.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic وِنْشِسْتَر
  • وِنْشِسْتَر (winšistar)city in England
Bulgarian Уинчестър
  • Уинчестър (Uinčestăr)city in England
Chinese Mandarin 温彻斯特
  • 温彻斯特 (Wēnchèsītè)city in England
French Vicêtre
  • Vicêtrecity in England
Hebrew וינצ׳סטר
  • וינצ׳סטרcity in England
Hindi विंचेस्टर
  • विंचेस्टर (viñcesṭar)city in England
Japanese ウィンチェスター
  • ウィンチェスター (Winchesutā)city in England
Korean 윈체스터
  • 윈체스터 (Wincheseuteo)city in England
Latin Venta Belgārum, Wintonia
  • Venta Belgārumcity in England
  • Wintoniacity in England
Latvian Vinčestera
  • Vinčesteracity in England
Lithuanian Vinčesteris
  • Vinčesteriscity in England
Persian وینچستر
  • وینچسترcity in England
Russian Винче́стер, Ви́нчестер
  • Винче́стер (Vinčéster)city in England
  • Ви́нчестер (Vínčestɛr)city in England
Thai วินเชสเตอร์
  • วินเชสเตอร์city in England
Turkish Winchester
  • Winchestercity in England
Ukrainian Вінчестер
  • Вінчестер (Vinčester)city in England
Urdu ونچیسٹر
  • ونچیسٹر (viñcesṭar)city in England
Welsh Caerwynt
  • Caerwyntcity in England

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Winchester. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Winchester

MLA

“Winchester.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Winchester. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Winchester,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Winchester.

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