Saresbury

Middle English

Alternative forms

Salesbiri, Salesbury, Sallesbury, Salisbiri, Salisburi, Salysbury, Sarrisbiri
Seresberi, Sereberi (Early Middle English)

Etymology

From Old English Searesbyriġ, dative and genitive of *Searesburh, alternative form of Searoburh (which some early forms originate directly from), from searu (“armour”) +‎ burg (“fort”) as a folk-etymological reinterpretation of Latin Sorviodūnum, Sorbiodōnum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsar(ə)sˌburiː/, /ˈsal(ə)sˌburiː/, /-ˌbɛriː/, /-ˌbiriː/

Proper noun

Saresbury

Old Sarum (a former city in Wiltshire, England)
- p. 1154, “AD 1137”, in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. Laud Misc. 636, continuation), Peterborough, folio 89, recto; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 2018 February 8:
  Þa þe kıng S[tephne] to engla[land] co[m] þa macod he hıſ gaderıng æt Oxenefoꝛd. ⁊ þar he na[m] þe b[ıſcop] Roger of Sereb[er]ı ⁊ Alex[ander] b[ıſcop] of lıncol ⁊ te canceler Rog[er] hıſe neueſ. ⁊ dıde ælle ın p[ꝛı]ſun. tıl hı ıafen up here caſtleſ.
  When King Stephen came to England, he held his assembly at Oxford; there he arrested Roger, the Bishop of Salisbury, Alexander, the Bishop of Lincoln, Roger the Chancellor, and his nephews and put them all in prison until they gave up their castles.
Salisbury (a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England)

Descendants

English: Salisbury
→ Latin: Sarisberia; Sarum (from the abbreviation Sar')
→ Old French: Salesbire