Stratford-on-Avon

English

Wikivoyage

Alternative forms

• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Stratford

Etymology

From being the location of a river ford for a roadway. From Old Welsh avon (“river”) + Old English ford (“ford”) + Old English strǣt (“street”); from Latin strata (“road”). From being a ford for a British Roman road. The ford itself has subsequently been built over, becoming Clopton Bridge. The river itself has subsequently become named River Avon.

Proper noun

Stratford-on-Avon

1. A town in Warwickshire, England, birthplace of William Shakespeare. Often used as a byword for a particularly idyllic or historic town.
   • 1957, The Foundry Trade Journal, page 454:

     Nuneaton was not a Stratford on Avon, nor had it a salubrious air.

   • 1979, Steven Kagle, America: Exploration and Travel, page 82:

     If America is not privileged enough to have a Stratford-on-Avon, it still has a Concord

2. A local government district of Warwickshire with its headquarters in the town.

Usage notes

• Officially, the term "Stratford-upon-Avon" signifies the town and civil parish, while the term "Stratford-on-Avon" signifies the district within which it is located. [1] However, this distinction is often ignored.

Translations

Stratford-on-Avon

• Bulgarian: Стра́тфорд на Е́йвън m (Strátford na Éjvǎn)
• Chinese: 埃文河畔斯特拉特福 (zh) (Āiwén hépàn Sītèlātèfú)
• French: Stratford-on-Avon (fr)
• Japanese: ストラトフォード・アポン・エイヴォン (sutoratofōdo-apon-eivon)
• Korean: 스트랫퍼드 어펀 에이번 (seuteuraetpeodeu eopeon eibeon)
• Latin: Stratfordia super Avonam
• Persian: استراتفورد (estrâtford)
• Russian: Стра́тфорд-на-Эйво́не m (Strátford-na-Ejvóne)
• Serbo-Croatian: Стратфорд на Ејвону m (Stratford na Ejvonu)
• Tamil: ஸ்துரடஃபர்டு அப்பொன்-ஏவன் (sturaṭafarṭu appoṉ-ēvaṉ)