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Glite Dictionary
Devonshire

Devonshire

9 5.5
A county in southwest England that people often call Devon and that has a long coastline and rolling hills
  • proper noun
  • /ˈdɛvənʃɪə/
translation icon : Devon
  • Your counsel has stated that you will appear willingly and without coercion tomorrow at five o'clock at the Devonshire Substation.
  • Duchess of Devonshire
  • Duke of Devonshire
  • Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

Examples

  • The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Elizabeth Foster.

    The Duchess (2008)

  • Instead, he went to his city house in Devonshire Terrace.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • I went to Devonshire, and knew at once that it was.

    Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

  • but I have no idea of returning immediately to Devonshire.

    Sense and Sensibility (1995)

  • I'm at the Saint Devonshire restaurant.

    Altered (2025)

  • The family of Radford had been long settled in Devonshire.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • These are the borderlands of Somerset and Devonshire.

    Solomon Kane (2009)

  • Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, was also instrumental in popularizing the chemise in England.

    Academic text (2016)

  • The final contestants are the honorable sheriff of Nottingham and the spindle-legged stork from Devonshire.

    Robin Hood (1973)

  • Devonshire is known for its beautiful coastline and picturesque countryside.

Synonyms

Devon
vsDevonshire
243 2.7

A county in southwest England with beaches, countryside, and old towns

is the older historical name rather than the county's current common name

Compounds

Devonshire cream
  • UK
7.6

A thick rich spread from Devon made from milk and served with scones

Surface Forms

Devonshire main

Morphology

Devonshire = Devon (transparent) = Devon + shire

The place-name 'Devon' plus the productive place-name suffix '-shire' yields a county name whose meaning ('county of Devon') is directly inferred.

Etymology

The word Devonshire comes from the old name of the local people, the Dumnonii, meaning 'people of Devon', and the ending -shire means 'county' or 'district', as in Yorkshire. So Devonshire simply means 'the county of Devon'.