halifax
/ˈhæl.ɪˌfæks/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.59 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
An industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, 20km south-west of Leeds (OS grid ref SE0925).
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A civil parish of Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
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A regional municipality, the capital city of Nova Scotia, Canada.
name
name
A small town, the county seat of Halifax County, North Carolina, United States.
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A town, the county seat of Halifax County, Virginia, United States.
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An earldom in the Peerage of Great Britain.
Etymology
From Old English halh-ġefeaxe (literally “grassy corner”), compounded from halh + ġefeaxe. Folk etymology suggests Old English hāliġfeax (literally “holy hair”), as compounded from hāliġ + feax, from a local legend that the town is said to have received the name from the fact that the hair of a murdered virgin was hung up on a tree in the neighborhood, which became a resort of pilgrims. Compare also Fairfax. The capital city of Nova Scotia is named after statesman George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1716–1771). The civil parish is also named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax. Coined by British-Dutch surveyor Samuel Holland.
Origin
- Source language: Old English
Word Breakdown
- Root: halh-ġefeaxe, hāliġfeax