ealdorburg

Old English

Etymology

From ealdor (“elder, king, origin, ancestor”) +‎ burg (“city, fortress”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ͜ɑl.dorˌburɡ/, [ˈæ͜ɑɫ.dorˌburˠɣ]

Noun

ealdorburg n

1. metropolis
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Swylċe ēac þissum tīdum cōm myċel hungor on Constantinopolim Crēca ealdorburh: ⁊ sōna wōl was æfterfyliġende. Ġe ēac moniġe weallas mid seofon ⁊ fīfteġum tōrran ġehruron ⁊ ġefeollan ⁊ swylċe ēac moniġe ōðre ċeastre tōhrorene wǣron.

     And also at this time there was a great famine in the Greek metropolis of Constantinople; and a plague followed immediately after. Also many walls along with fifty-seven towers fell and collapsed and many other cities fell to ruin.

2. a royal city

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ealdor-burh”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.