Plymouth

Plym·outh  (plmth)

1. A borough of southwest England on Plymouth Sound, an inlet of the English Channel. A major port, it was the embarkation point for the fleet that fought the Spanish Armada (1588) and for Drake, Raleigh, and several other early explorers. Population: 243,000.

2. A town of southeast Massachusetts on Plymouth Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Boston. Founded in 1620 by Pilgrims, who supposedly set foot on Plymouth Rock when disembarking from the Mayflower, it was the center of Plymouth Colony. The colony was governed under precepts laid down in the Mayflower Compact until 1691, when it was absorbed by the royal colony of Massachusetts. Population: 55,500.

3. A city of southeast Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Population: 70,100.

Word History: Plymouth, first recorded as Plummuth in 1235, means "mouth of the Plym River." Plym, the river, is first recorded in 1238 as Plyme and is a back-formation of Plympton, in turn first recorded in 904 as Plymentun, from Old English Plmtn or Plmantn, "plum-tree-town."

---

Plymouth [ˈplɪməθ]

n

1. (Placename) a port in SW England, in Plymouth unitary authority, SW Devon, on Plymouth Sound (an inlet of the English Channel): Britain's chief port in Elizabethan times; the last port visited by the Pilgrim Fathers in the Mayflower before sailing to America; naval base; university (1992). Pop.: 245 991 (1991).

2. (Placename) a unitary authority in SW England, in Devon. Pop.: 240 718 (2001). Area: 76 sq. km (30 sq. miles)

3. (Placename) a city in SE Massachusetts, on Plymouth Bay: the first permanent European settlement in New England; founded by the Pilgrim Fathers. Pop.: 45 608 (1990)

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Plymouth - a town in Massachusetts founded by Pilgrims in 1620 Bay State, Massachusetts, Old Colony, MA - a state in New England; one of the original 13 colonies Plymouth Colony - colony formed by the Pilgrims when they arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620; it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 Plymouth Rock - a boulder in Plymouth supposed to be where the Pilgrims disembarked from the Mayflower