Etymology
The name "Avon" is a cognate of the Welsh word afon "river", both being derived from the British language abona, "river". "River Avon", therefore, literally means "River River"; several other English and Scottish rivers share the name.
The County of Avon that existed from 1974 to 1996 covering the Avon valley, including Bristol and Bath, was named after the river.
Read more about this topic: River Avon (Bristol)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)