-wich town
The term "
-wich town", derived from the Anglo-Saxon suffix
-wīc signifying "a dwelling or fortified place", refers to a settlement in Anglo-Saxon England characterised by extensive artisanal activity and trade – an "emporium" – and supplied from outside the protected community. Such settlements were usually coastal and many have left material traces found during excavation. Eilert Ekwall wrote: "OE
wīc, an early loan-word from Lat
vicus, means ‘dwelling, dwelling-place; village, hamlet, town; street in a town; farm, esp. a dairy-farm’.. . . It is impossible to distinguish neatly between the various senses. Probably the most common meaning is ‘dairy-farm’.. . . In names of salt-working towns. . .
wīc originally denoted the buildings connected with a salt-pit or even the town that grew up around it. But a special meaning ‘salt-works’, found already in DB, developed." As well as
-wich,
-wīc was the origin of the endings
-wych and
-wick, as, for example, in Papplewick, Nottinghamshire.