Dunstan

English

Etymology

From the name of a 10th century Archbishop of Canterbury, from Old English dunn (“dark”) +‎ stān (“stone”).

Proper noun

Dunstan

1. A male given name from Old English.
   • 1970, Robertson Davies, Fifth Business‎^[1], →ISBN, pages 96–97:

     "Let me do one thing more for you," she said. "Let me rename you. How on earth did you ever get yourself called Dunstable?"
     "My mother's maiden name," said I. "Lots of people in Canada get landed with their mother's maiden name as a Christian name. But what's wrong with it?"
     "It's hard to say, for one thing," said she, "and it sounds like a cart rumbling over cobblestones. You'll never get anywhere in the world named Dumbledum Ramsay. Why don't you change it to Dunstan? St. Dunstan was a marvellous person and very much like you - mad about learning, terribly stiff and stern and scowly, and an absolute wizard at withstanding temptation.

2. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Anagrams

• unstand

Old English

Etymology

From dunn (“dark”) +‎ stān (“stone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdunˌstɑːn/

Proper noun

Dunstān m

1. a male given name

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	Dunstān	—
accusative	Dunstān	—
genitive	Dunstānes	—
dative	Dunstāne	—

Descendants

• English: Dunstan