Kristiansund

Norwegian Bokmål

A view of the harbour in Kristiansund.

Alternative forms

Christianssund, Kristianssund
Fosna, Fosen

Etymology

Kristian +‎ sund, named after Christian VI of Denmark, the King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746, who gave the town township rights in 1742. The original spelling of the city was Christianssund, used from 1742 to 1877, then the spelling Kristianssund was used until 1889, and the modern spelling Kristiansund has been used since.

The name Kristian comes from Latin Chrīstiānus (“Christian”), from Chrīstus (“Christ (Jesus)”), from Ancient Greek Χρῑστός (Khrīstós, “Messiah or Christ”), from χρῑστός (khrīstós, “the anointed one”). Last part sund (“sound, strait, channel”), from Old Norse sund (“swimming; narrow waters (which you can swim across)”), from Proto-Germanic *sundą (“swimming, sound, strait”), from earlier *swumdan, from Proto-Indo-European *swm̥tóm.

The town was referred to as Fosna or Fosen, before given township rights, from Old Norse fólgsn (“hiding place, hidden port”). It was also often named Lille Fosen ("the small Fosen") to distinguish it from the island Storfosna ("the big Fosen") in Ørland to the north.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /krɪstjanˈsʉn/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ʉn
Hyphenation: Kris‧tian‧sund
Homophones: Christianssund, Kristianssund

Proper noun

Kristiansund

Kristiansund (a town and municipality of Møre og Romsdal, Western Norway, Norway)

Derived terms

kristiansunding (“a person from Kristiansund”)
kristiansunder (“a person from Kristiansund”)

References

“Kristiansund” in Store norske leksikon

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From older Kristianssund, Christianssund, from Christian +‎ sund, named after the Danish king Christian VI. Replaced the old Norwegian name Fosna.

Proper noun

Kristiansund n

A town with bystatus and municipality of Møre og Romsdal, Norway. The former Frei municipality was merged with it on 1 January 2008.
Synonym: Fosna