Kristiansund

Norwegian Bokmål

A view of the harbour in Kristiansund.

Alternative forms

• Christianssund, Kristianssund
• Fosna, Fosen

Etymology

Kristian +‎ sund, named after Christian VI of Denmark, the King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746, who gave the town township rights in 1742. The original spelling of the city was Christianssund, used from 1742 to 1877, then the spelling Kristianssund was used until 1889, and the modern spelling Kristiansund has been used since.

The town was referred to as Fosna or Fosen, before given township rights, from Old Norse fólgsn (“hiding place, hidden port”). It was also often named Lille Fosen ("the small Fosen") to distinguish it from the island Storfosna ("the big Fosen") in Ørland to the north.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /krɪstjanˈsʉn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʉn
• Hyphenation: Kris‧tian‧sund
• Homophones: Christianssund, Kristianssund

Proper noun

Kristiansund

1. Kristiansund (a town and municipality of Møre og Romsdal, Western Norway, Norway)

Derived terms

• kristiansunding (“a person from Kristiansund”)
• kristiansunder (“a person from Kristiansund”)

References

• “Kristiansund” in Store norske leksikon

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From older Kristianssund, Christianssund, from Christian +‎ sund, named after the Danish king Christian VI. Replaced the old Norwegian name Fosna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /krɪstjanˈsʊn(d)/, /²krɪstjansʊn(d)/
• (Kristiansund) IPA^(key): /²kresjanˌsʉɲː/, /krɪstjanˈsʉɲː/

Proper noun

Kristiansund n

1. Kristiansund (a city and municipality of Nordmøre district, Møre og Romsdal, Norway)

   Synonym: Fosna

Usage notes

The former Frei municipality was merged with it on 1st January 2008.

Due to the foreign origin of the name, using the name of a Danish king, various attempts have been made to take back the old name Fosn (definite form Fosna) as town name.

References

• Jørn Sandnes, Ola Stemshaug (1997) Norsk stadnamnleksikon, Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, →ISBN