Etymology
Long prior to any settlement taking place, this area was known as 'Beare Bottom', 'Beare' deriving from the Old English bearū (meaning 'woodland') and 'Bottom' simply denoting the area's location at the bottom of the Stour Valley. Strips of ancient woodland or bearū still survive and these gave rise, after 1925, to the tautological place-name Bearwood, denoting the suburban area immediately west of Bear Cross.
It was once maintained that the name ‘Bear Cross’ commemorated a bear pit or bear-baiting post in the vicinity. More recent research suggests that this story only dates from 1970, when the origins of local toponyms were being discussed in Bournemouth's Evening Echo. This story nevertheless gave rise to the image of a bear in chains which still adorns the Bear Cross pub sign, and which also features in the badge associated with the local Oakmead College of Technology.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)