Xanten
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsʌntən/, /ˈsæntən/, /ˈsɑːntən/
Proper noun
Xanten
- A town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Anagrams
- annext
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from German Xanten, from Latin sanctōs.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈksɑn.tə(n)/
- Hyphenation: Xan‧ten
- Rhymes: -ɑntən
Proper noun
Xanten n
- Xanten, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near the Rhine
- Synonym: Santen
German
Alternative forms
- Santen (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle High German Sante(n), from Latin Sanctos (literally “(at) the saints”). The spelling with initial X- first appears in Latin texts of the 10th century. One theory links it with Ancient Greek Ξάνθος (Xánthos), the gods’ name for the Scamander river near Troy according to the Iliad. This theory is based on the fact that there was indeed a well-attested mediaeval legend equating Xanten with Troy. The inherited local pronunciation is Santen /ˈsan.tən/, but it has now been widely displaced by the spelling pronunciation. Xanten is the only German locality in X- (though there are a few Bavarian ones in Gs-, also pronounced with /ks/).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈksan.tən/
Audio (file)
Proper noun
Xanten n (proper noun, genitive Xantens or (optionally with an article) Xanten)
- Xanten (a town in Lower Rhine, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
- Meronyms: Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Wardt
References
- Hawicks, Heike: Sanctos–Xantum–Troia – Zum Einfluss ottonisch-byzantinischer Beziehungen auf die Toponymie im Xantener Raum, in: Ludwig, Uwe & Schilp, Thomas (editors): Mittelalter an Rhein und Maas – Beiträge zur Geschichte des Niederrheins, Waxmann Verlag, 2004, p. 27-41.