Blenheim

English

Etymology

The house was named to commemorate the Allied victory at the 1704 Battle of Blindheim (near Höchstädt an der Donau in Bavaria). Other places are named after the house, often with an association to the Duchy of Marlborough.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblɛnəm/

Proper noun

Blenheim

1. A rural locality in Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia.
2. An unincorporated community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada.
3. A former township merged into Blandford-Blenheim township, Oxford County, Ontario.
4. A town in Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand, the largest in the region.
5. A place in England:
   1. A civil parish (without a council) west of Woodstock, West Oxfordshire district, Oxfordshire.
   2. A suburban area in Garsington parish, South Oxfordshire district, Oxfordshire (OS grid ref SP5702).
   3. A small inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire.
6. A place in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Gloucester Township, Camden County, New Jersey.
   2. A small town in Schoharie County, New York.
   3. A small town in Marlboro County, South Carolina.
   4. An unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Derived terms

• Blandford-Blenheim

Noun

Blenheim (plural Blenheims)

1. A colour variation of two toy spaniel breeds, chestnut brown with pearl white markings.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 287:

     ....—a large cashmere shawl, with its border of roses, thrown carelessly on a chair—a crimson cushion, where lay sleeping a Blenheim dog, almost small enough to have passed through the royal ring in that most fairy tale of the White Cat:—all bespoke a lady's room.

References

• “Blenheim”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.